I'm A Complicated Person
by xKat01x
Summary: When a 17 year old girl stumbles upon 3 martians and their human friends, what strange events will take place? Read to find out! Mild swearing at times and some graphic scenes with slight gore :S teehee :3
1. Chapter 1: All alone

**Author's comments –**** Hey! My cousin has been bugging me to write a fanfic on Butt Ugly Martians for a loooooooong time now, so here you are Izzie! A Butt Ugly Martians fanfic :3 Ember is my character :)**

An ice-cold wind blew harshly, causing Ember to pull her thick, light-blue coat even further around her slim body. It was a stunning November night – the skies were clear so all the stars were visible. But still, Ember felt something just wasn't right.

"Why did I have to arrive at night?" she anxiously thought to herself, walking faster. She needed to find a hotel or something to spend the night. She stopped abruptly when she heard footsteps behind her. She spun around. Nothing. Ember carried on walking even faster. Footsteps again. Span around again. Nothing. She was really beginning to panic now. Ember looked around for someone, for anyone, but the streets were deserted.

"What's wrong, Taylor? Somethin' botherin' you?" Ember's stomach churned unpleasantly. She knew that voice. The very voice she wished she would never hear again. Ember turned around slowly and gasped as her fears were confirmed.

**Author's summary –**** I know what you're probably thinking – that wasn't Butt Ugly Martians! Then don't worry – you'll be happy with the next chapter! Who was the mysterious person stalking Ember Taylor? Ooohh spooky 0.0 P.S, this was a very short chappie, but don't worry! They all won't be like this :3 Love ya B.U.M fans ;) xx**


	2. Chapter 2: Martians to the rescue!

**Author's Comments –**** Chappie 2! :D This is where things get interesting ^-^**

"Yum! I think I ate at least 15 Quantum Burgers this time!" exclaimed B-Bop proudly.

"Is that all? I swallowed at least _25_!" replied Do-Wah with a big grin. The 3 martians were stood outside Quantum Burgers with full stomaches.

"Well, that's just great guys, but now can we go back to Zapz? I'm tired. Why did we need to come here in the middle of the night anyway?" asked 2T.

"Well, duh 2T! Obviously because we were hungry!" replied B-Bop as they began to walk home.

"May I remind you that we have food back at Zapz!" retorted 2T as they turned around the corner.

"Yeah, but-" started B-Bop, but he was interrupted by 2T hushing at him.

"Listen!" he whispered. They heard a man's voice, and some sort of whimpering. It seemed to be coming from around the corner.

"C'mon" whispered B-Bop as they poked their heads carefully around the corner. They saw the back of a very tall and well-built man. He seemed to be stood over something.

"It's time for you to be re-united with your family, Taylor!" he snarled as he dragged a very pretty, young woman up from the floor by the front of her coat and slammed her as hard as he could against the brick wall behind her. Her skull made a sickening cracking sound as it made contact with the wall. The martians couldn't watch anymore. They had to do something – even if it meant being seen by a human.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" yelled B-Bop as the three of them jumped out from behind the corner. The man dropped the young woman in shock.

"What the-" he started. He was interrupted by Do-Wah, who said,

"You better get lost before we blast you to hell!" The man gave them a very intimidating look, then turned to the young woman, who was still slumped on the floor, too weak to stand.

"You got lucky this time, Taylor! But next time, I assure you, you'll end up just like the rest of your family!" he sneered, then he spun on the spot and disappeared.

"How the hell did he do that!" puzzled B-Bop as 2T rushed to the woman.

"Oh my god!" he gasped. The young woman had a deep, long cut all the way from her wrist to her shoulder on her left arm. It was pumping blood so fast that her coat was soaked and stained deep red. There was also blood on the wall where she hit her head. What made things worse was that she was unconscious – 2T checked her pulse. She was alive, but only just.

"We've got to get her to Zapz straight away!" he said as he scooped her up and began running home, with his two friends following close behind him.

**Author's Summary –**** Awww! Poor Ember! Well, at least she's in safe hands now :) And how did that guy disappear like that? Oooh suspense X3**


	3. Chapter 3: Where am I?

**Author's Comments –**** Chappie 3 already? Babe, I'm on a roll! Ahahaha! Now read B.U.M fans, read while I drink my Pepsi :3**

"Oh my gosh! Is she OK?" Angie asked.

"Yes, yes, I cleaned and bandaged her wounds and put her in the spare bedroom for the night. But I'm afraid I couldn't save her coat" replied 2T. The martians had just finished telling their three Earth friends about last night's events.

"Can we go see her?" asked Cedric, very curious to get a glimpse of this mysterious young woman they had been talking about.

"No, let her get her rest. When she wakes up, you can see her" answered 2T.

* 2 hours later *

A severe headache caused Ember to stir.

"Uh, my head" she groaned as she sat up, still half asleep. She jumped out of the soft, double bed like a ninja when she realised she didn't know where she was.

"Where am I?" she puzzled. Curiously, she crept to the entrance of the room and peered outside. To her right, a wall with a door, to the left, a long corridor with a few oak doors. Light seemed to be coming from around a wide corner at the very end of the corridor.

"Well, here goes" she sighed nervously, walking down the large corridor and towards the light. Arf! Arrrffarfffff! Ember almost fell backwards with shock. Her heart pounding like mad, she looked down at the floor and saw a very cute robot dog with long, floppy ears and big, shiny eyes.

"Aww! You're sooo cute!" Ember gushed as she picked the dog up.

"I didn't think robot dogs existed! I wonder who his owner is" she thought to herself as she stroked him, his tail wagging rapidly. Carrying him in her arms, somewhat more calm and confident than before, she walked further down the corridor. She heard voices, but didn't stop. Turning around the corner, she once again almost fell backwards from shock. She was greeted by a very loud squeal.

"She is SO cute! Awww!" A woman with short, brown hair and big, blue eyes launched herself at Ember and pulled her into a hug, which caused her to drop the dog.

**Author's Summary –**** Aww, what a nice way to be greeted! SLURP SLURPP. What? I'm still drinking my Pepsi. Teehee! :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Introductions

**Author's Comments -**** Chappie 4 – Introductions. Enjoy! ^-^ (BTW I'm sorry for the delay, I've just had loads of exams at school and the internet has been playing up too lately :S)**

"Wha... who... where am I?" mumbled Ember, very confused.

"Don't worry hunny, your safe here" answered the woman, breaking the hug. This allowed Ember to see the rest of the room. It was large, with blank, white walls, a hovering TV, 2 sofas, lots of video games and a table and fridge at the far end. On one of the machines was a man with spiked-up, blonde hair and another man with short, black hair, stood next to him. Ember turned to look at the sofas and saw...

"Aliens! But what...when?...How..." mumbled Ember to herself, even more confused than before.

"Don't worry, she's just in confusion. She'll snap out of it in a minute" said the martian in blue, with an amused look on his face.

"Why didn't... only three?..." she continued.

"At least she's reacting better than what you three did. You all screamed. Angie ran and I think Mike wet himself! Cedric was OK after he got over the shock and he had to help us catch Angie and calm Mike down!" said the martian in yellow, laughing. Mike – the human with the blonde hair, didn't look too impressed.

"Where's the fire!" said Ember to the boy with short, black hair. The girl called Angie giggled at this. Ember began counting on her fingers.

"Ten-million ants!" she finished, then slid to the floor.

"Umm, are you sure you wouldn't prefer to sit somewhere more comfortable?" asked Angie with a smile.

"I'll be fine here thank you" replied Ember, back to her old self. "Where am I? Who are you guys?"

"You're at Zapz. This is where we live" replied the martian in blue. "I'm 2T, this is Do-Wah (gesturing to the martian in red), and this is B-Bop (pointing to the martian in yellow)"

"Umm... hi. It's nice to meet you" said Ember sweetly, giving a shy smile.

"I'm Angie, that's Mike and that's Cedric. And that's Dog. His name is Dog. Not too creative is it?" said the woman with short, brown hair. She sat next to Ember on the floor.

"Haha. It's so nice to meet you all. I'm Ember Taylor" she said cheerfully.

"Aww, too cute!" Angie said again, once again pulling her into a hug.

**Author's Summary –**** Now that the introductions are over, they can all start being friends! Yay! X3 By the way, you may have noticed I've been referring to Angie, Mike and Cedric as men and women. This is because in this story, Cedric is 18, and Mike and Angie are 19. The martians are about 23 in martian years. :)**


	5. Chapter 5: I'm A Complicated Person

**Author's Comments – ****Chappie 5! Woop woop! This is the chapter when you learn all about Ember's past and who that mysterious man was :D Gee, I really could do with a McFlurry right now... oh, sorry ^-^; I forgot about you guys for a second there haha. ****Author's cousin's comment time :D – ****Hey peeps! I'm Izzie (Katherine's cousin). I just want to say that I'm so proud of my lil cuz! She's been through alot of shit, yet she still carries on strong! I'm so proud of you and keep up the good work! ****Author –**** Thanks Izzie :'/D that's a very sweet thing to say – or type :). Anyways, on with the story!**

"Now you know plenty about us – what about you?" Said Angie, breaking the hug. Ember scooped up Dog and began tickling him behind the ears.

"I'm 16, born in the year of the dog, shoe size 5, bra size non-of-your-business and I think that Dog is incredibly cute!" gushed Ember, giggling.

"He is, isn't he? I made him!" Exclaimed 2T proudly.

"Really? You must be so smart!" Replied Ember, eyes wide with admiration. 2T looked very proud of himself and gave her a little wink.

"Don't say stuff like that, you wouldn't want him to get a head that is as inflated as B-Bop's!" Said Cedric, half serious, half joking.

After Mike had finished choking on his juice thanks to Cedric's last comment, he said, "the martians told us about that man and you in the alley. How did he disappear like that and what does he want with you?" Ember stopped tickling Dog. Staring at the floor with a pained look, her sparkling eyes began to fill with tears.

"Look what you've done now! You've upset her, Mike!" Scolded Angie, glaring at him and caringly wrapping an arm around Ember's slightly shaking shoulders. "It's okay hun, you don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay, he's only curious. I've just never spoken about it to anyone before" Ember said, wiping a tear away with the back of her hand. "You see, I'm not from this world. I'm from a world that is very similar to this one. The only difference is that everyone in my world are magical beings."

"Magical beings?" Puzzled Do-Wah.

"Yeah, like witches, wizards, Sorcerers and worst of all – Warlocks. I'm a witch. But not just any witch – I'm the princess of my world – called Foamelduada – and I will be taking over the throne when I reach my 21st birthday" Ember sniffed, wiping away another tear.

"Wow! You're royalty?" Angie stuttered nervously, standing up and curtseying to Ember, "I had no idea... I'm so sorry your heighness..." She looked really flustered.

"Don't be silly. And don't call me heighness or anything of the sort" Replied Ember, pulling Angie back to the floor next to her, "I don't like being treated any different just because of my blood."

"Okay, noted" Said Angie with a sigh of relief. Cedric said very excitedly, "a princess! Then you must be rich! Wow! Gold, jewels, valuable possessions!" His eyes seemed to double in size just thinking about it. 2T gave him a very stern look.

"Yeah, seems like I have everything anyone could ever want, but really, the money doesn't mean that much to me. I give £50,000 a month to a different charity to make myself feel better about having so much when there are people in your world that have nothing (our currency is in pounds, like the UK). In Foamelduada, everyone is quite wealthy, so I never had this feeling of guilt before I came down here." Said Ember.

"Right, I know that witches and wizards are people that can perform magic through wands and that a sorcerer is someone who performs magic through a staff, but what's a warlock?" Asked Mike.

"Warlocks are wizards that have turned bad. They learn all the secrets of dark magic and use them to make everyone else's lives hell" Replied Ember. "That's what that man you saw in the alley was. A warlock. His name is Hack, and his name alone strikes fear into the hearts of my people. He killed everyone in my family apart from my parents before I was born. He couldn't kill my parents because they were down here when I was born, so they had no idea what was happening back in Foamelduada. Hack wanted the throne – he was so power- hungry that he would do anything for it – even kill every single person who had royal blood – my blood – running through their veins. When me and my parents returned to Foamelduada, he killed them. He didn't know about me though, so Auntie Mariah (my mom's best friend) took me back down to this world and left me in the care of the Ayokagi family in Japan, in hopes that one day I will return and take my rightful place as ruler of Foamelduada. Until then, Auntie Mariah is looking after my world as ruler and is protecting the empire from the clutches of Hack. I came to America for a fresh start, I'm 16, I'm not a child anymore and I wanted to live on my own for a while. I thought I would be safe. But he has obviously found out about me. I can still remember his voice from when I was a baby – cold, careless and terrifying." Ember finished, tears running rapidly down her soft skin.

"A broken childhood..." Whispered 2T. She looked up to see 2T, his face soaked in tears, his dark eyes full of sorrow and pain. He slid from the sofa and wrapped his arms around Ember's trembling body, giving her a reassuring hug. As she cried into his arms, she stuttered, "As you can tell, I'm a complicated person."

**Author's summary –**** Aww what a sweet ending to the chapter! More hugs! Yay! (BTW I now have my McFlurry – dairy milk :D). Crunch crunch crunch. Yummy! :3**


	6. Chapter 6: Fitting In

**Author's Comments – ****Chappie 6! It only seemed like yesterday when I first picked up my laptop and began typing chapter 1 :') Oh, don't they grow up so fast wait... :/0 that sounded weird. Forget about that last part! Anyways, this chapter is about Ember's first day with her new friends. Enjoy! (BTW you never guess what Izzie said yesterday! She said that the martians are lucky that they'll never have to meet me because I'd warp their minds and make them complete weirdos by the end of the day! That might be true but I still do take a tiny bit of offence to that comment! Haha only joking – I don't know how to take offence to something!) Now, story time X3**

After a good 5 minutes of hugging and crying Ember broke apart from 2T and gave a very sweet smile.

"Thank you so much - all of you – for saving me last night and letting me stay here for the night. If you wouldn't have been there to save me – I wouldn't have been alive right now" She said, her voice shaking slightly on the last part.

"Well we wouldn't have just let that Hack kill an innocent woman and walk away" Answered 2T.

"Not to mention a very _pretty _innocent woman" Added B-Bop with a mischievous smile.

"Don't worry about him – he's a natural flirt" Whispered Angie to Ember, rolling her eyes. Ember stood up and gave a thank you hug to all three martians. Do-Wah gave a bashful smile then said,

"Do you even have anywhere to stay?"

"Well, now that I think about it... no" Said Ember, with a worried tone to her voice, "But I'm sure I'll be able to work something out."

"Well then why don't you stay here?" Asked B-Bop casually.

"Here!" Replied Ember, shocked, "I couldn't... I can't... I've already caused enough trouble for you guys and I wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense babe, you haven't caused us any trouble at all. Believe me, we've been through much worse before. And if you stay here, you wouldn't have to feel like you're in debt to us anymore. You could, y'know clean up after us and keep Zapz tidy. We're absolutely useless at stuff like that. That's if you wouldn't mind – we don't want to force you to do anything that you're not comfortable with." Said 2T, smiling.

"That sounds great! Umm... as long as you're sure" Said Ember smiling back at him.

"Of course we're sure" Said Do-Wah, grinning.

"Oh, thank you!" Shouted Ember happily, "First you save my life, then you repair my wounds and let me stay the night, and now, you're giving me a roof over my head! You three really are the greatest, most generous, most fantastic beings I have ever met! Just to say thank you, I think I'll go out shopping for ingredients and I'll make a big chocolate cake! You do like chocolate cake, right?"

"Of course we do!" Replied B-Bop happily.

"Yay, chocolate cake! Do we get some?" Asked Mike.

"Of course, it wouldn't be fair if we had a treat and you didn't" Giggled Ember.

"I'll go shopping with you so that you won't be on your own" Said Angie, linking arms with her.

"Okay! Let's go!" Said Ember, eyes sparkling with happiness. As the girls walked out of the door, 2T said with a smile,

"She'll fit right in."

**Author's summary – ****What a happy chapter! Ember deserves all the kindness she's getting. Such a sweet girl! :)**


	7. Chapter 7: Supermarket Madness!

**Author's Comments –**** Heyy everyone! Chappie 7 is now officially up! And guess what? I've got hiccups – AGAIN! My singing teacher says I get them so much because I use my diaphragm much more than normal people do – that may well be, but it still doesn't solve the problem! I HATE HICCUPSSSS! THEY DO MY HEAD INNN! AAAARRRGGGHHHH! *Phew* Glad I got that out of my system :3 Now please read this chapter while I fight with these stupid hiccups!**

*10 minutes since the girls left*

Mike let out an impatient sigh. "Ugghh! I'm so bored! When are the girls getting back?" He complained. Cedric's stomach growled.

"Yeah! I want chocolate cake!" Cedric whined.

"Guys! They only left 10 minutes ago!" 2T reminded them, laughing at their impatience. He switched the TV on and turned it on to the music channels to kill some time.

*Zoom to the girls at the supermarket. Zoom!*

Angie and Ember had only just arrived at the supermarket.

"Come on Angie! We have to be quick!" Ember giggled, grabbing her hand and running through the automatic double-doors, "Come on! Grab a shopping-cart!"

"But why?" Puzzled Angie.

"Just trust me! It will be fun!" Ember laughed. After Angie had grabbed a shopping-cart and followed her to the beginning of an aisle, Ember said,

"1,2,3, GO!" And she stood on the back of the shopping-cart, kicked off with one foot and sped down the aisle, scanning the shelfs for eggs, sugar, flour, cooking chocolate and icing, her wavy, waist-length black hair swirling around behind her.

"Why do I get the feeling that she does this on a regular basis?" Thought Angie fondly. She jumped on her own shopping-cart and sped after her, smiling. After 5 minutes of this, they had already found the ingredients and paid for them at the check-out. Placing their shopping-carts back, they linked arms once again and began to make their way back to Zapz.

*10 minutes later*

"Hey everybody! We're back!" Giggled Ember, closing the door behind them both.

"Yesss! I can't wait to eat yummehh chocolate cake!" Mike exclaimed happily. Ember laughed at him and skipped happily across the room towards the cupboards, fridge and sink. Getting to work straight away, she got all the equipment out and began measuring all the ingredients out.

"See 2T! When Ember's got work to do, she does it straight away – not at the last minute!" Mocked B-Bop. He loved to wind up his best friend so much. 2T just shrugged his shoulders, "What can I say? I don't like to work. It's boring. I'd prefer to be doing something more challenging." He replied.

"Oh, I lurvvee this song!" Ember yelled excitedly, making them all jump. Do-Wah turned to face her and noticed she had already put all the ingredients into a big mixing bowl and had poured melted chocolate over it. The song was called 'Mouthwash by Kate Nash.' Angie started giggling when Ember started dancing around madly while still managing to mix the cake mixture without spilling any. Even though she was only messing around, her new friends could tell that she was a very talented dancer. Ember started to sing along to the song.

"_I use mouthwash. Sometimes I floss. I've got a family, and I drink cups of tea..._" She sang, getting really into it and forgetting the fact that she was being watched.

"You've got a beautiful voice" Mike said to her, smiling, still slightly amazed at how talented she was. Ember blushed and stopped singing and dancing immediately.

"No! Don't stop. I didn't mean to make you feel embarrassed..." Mike said gently.

"No it's not you. I just forgot you guys were watching me" She smiled.

"Come on. Dance!" Angie said, walking over to her and jumping around like crazy. Ember giggled at her and resumed mixing and dancing until the mixture was ready. As she had finished evenly spreading the mixture out on a large, circular tray, she placed it inside the oven and whispered to Angie,

"I already like this place a whole lot already!" Angie smiled happily at her new friend.

*30 minutes later*

"Tadaaaa!" Sang Ember, placing a round, chocolate cake on the middle of the table. On the top of it, written in white icing, read the words;

'_Thankyou _

_xxxxxx'_

"Wow! This looks super-yummy!" Said B-Bop, licking his lips.

"Don't be silly. It's not like I'm a chef or anything" She replied blushing and giving him a smile. After that, everyone sat down and tucked in.

"Thankyou so much" Ember repeated to the three martians.

"No, thank_you_" Replied 2T, grinning at her.

**Author's Summary –**** Hey Ember! Save me some! NO MIKE! THAT'S HALF THE CAKE! NOOOOOOOOOO! I WANT SOMEEEE! *Runs off and jumps on Mike's back.* ISSHHHH MINE! Humans, martians and Izzie; 0.0**

**Izzie – Okeeey then... well that's it for this chapter! Come back soon to read the eighth chapter. Oh, and R&R! Or I'll get Kat's dog to pee on you! I'm being serious! He knows where you liveeee! **


	8. Chapter 8: Yummy Cake and Tiring Chores

**Author's Comments –**** Hiyaa! I'm back! And guess what? I managed to get some chocolate cake off Mike! And it's delicious! Yummehhh! Now back to the story :D **

Ember was munching on her slice of the chocolate cake when a bit broke off and landed on her top. She looked down to brush it off.

"WHAT THE HELL! I don't remember getting changed! This is definitely not my shirt!" She yelled, extremely surprised, making her six friends jump. Then, they all burst into laughter.

"What? I don't get it... and could somebody tell me what happened to my shirt?" Asked Ember, leaning her head to the right the way she always did when she was confused.

"You've only just realised?" laughed B-Bop in disbelief.

"Umm... yeah I guess. In my defence some really weird stuff has been going on today for me" Replied Ember, slightly embarrassed, "now could someone please tell me how I ended up wearing this top?"

"Well, when we brought you here, your coat and top were absolutely soaked with blood. So, we had to dispose of them and changed you into one of B-Bop's tops. It was a little big on you but at least it covered you up and kept you warm" Explained 2T.

"So you guys actually _do _have normal clothes" giggled Angie.

"Yeah, but we prefer to wear our uniforms, just in case of a surprise call from Bog" replied Do-Wah.

"Can you imagine how pissed off he would be if he called us and saw us without our uniforms on? He'd probably shout so much that he'd go red in the face and pass out!" said B-Bop, looking very amused.

"But, wait... NO! THAT MEANS YOU THREE HAVE SEEN ME IN JUST MY BRA! OH MY GOD!" freaked Ember, jumping up from her seat. Everyone noticed that she had turned a very deep shade of red.

"Yeah... but we tried our best not to look. We pulled your top off and replaced it that top really quickly before _B-Bop_ really got to see anything" 2T said with a smile. Ember looked a little relieved at this and gave out a nervous laugh. She collected up all the empty plates and began the washing up.

"Would you like some help with those?" asked her new best friend, Angie. She knew that she couldn't help her all the time, and that the martians really were useless at stuff like this, but Angie still wasn't comfortable with the fact that Ember would have to do all the housework by herself. Ember smiled sweetly.

"No it's okay thankyou. I'm sure I can manage" she said to Angie.

"Well, if you're sure. Just shout me if you need help with absolutely anything" she replied, smiling back at her. As Angie walked away, Ember muttered to herself,

"Everyone's so nice here. I think I've finally found someplace I feel comfortable to call home."

*4 hours later*

It was 11:30pm, and Angie, Mike and Cedric had left an hour ago. Ember was in her pyjamas, but was still straightening up Zapz.

"Em, come on. Just sit down and relax for a bit. You've been working all day. You must be _so _tired" said 2T, a little bit concerned.

"Me... tired?... No... I'm fine" muttered Ember with a yawn. She was loading up the dryer with all her new clothes she had bought previously that day (she never just wore them straight away). But the truth was, she was tired. She was so tired that her eyes were drooping and her legs were shaking. But she didn't want to let her new friends down. There was still so much work... to... be... done... Ember has just fallen asleep on top of the dryer, her legs still on the ground, but limp. 2T laughed at her. Oh, how cute she was. He stared at her for a few seconds, a warm, fuzzy feeling welling up inside him.

"I guess this feeling must mean that we're going to be good friends" he thought to himself, as he made his way over to the dryer and the passed out Ember. He scooped her up and carried her to the spare bed she had spent the previous night in. Tucking her in, he admired her angelic, sweet, sleeping form a little while longer before shutting the door quietly and making his way to his own room.

**Author's Summary –**** Aww! How cute was that? Could this just be friendship or could it blossom into something more? I'll leave that for you to decide, as I am not revealing anything else at this stage. And I apologise to the two US residents and the UK citizen who read this story and did not review afterwards. My dog peed on them, and I have a feeling that Izzie had something to do with this... so yeah, sorry! And Dylan apologises too (Dylan is my dog). Don't you, Dylan? Dylan – ARRFFF! AARRFARRRRFFF! Me – okay, you don't have to shout! My eardrums are bleeding! Gawwdd!**

**P.S, Thankyou for all of you B.U.M fans out there who have supported me throughout this story, no matter if you've R&R'd or just read the story. Thankyou. I want to thank 'Alice The Homicidal Martian' in particular, as she has made quite a few reviews to this story and has continued to support me since chapter 1. Thankyou Alice! :3 I love yooh! Teehee :D**


	9. Chapter 9: Party on?

**Author's Comments –**** Heyy everyone! Sorry it's been such a long wait, the god-damn internet connection is pretty lousy in the part of England I live in (I live in the countryside, so I'm quite far away from any electronic-related stations etc). But here it is! Chappie 9! Yeahhh! X3 (Some of the ideas expressed in the beginning of this chapter is not my material but belongs to Mike Young productions, which you should already know if you are a true B.U.M fan. The rest of the material is mine. Mine! Not Izzie's! Not Dylan's! MINE! Mwahahahaaaaa! Oh, and Mike's middle name is my property too!)**

_Over the next two weeks, Ember and her new friends had some great memories (and some rather dangerous too!) These events included Cedric and the martians entering a music-vid contest (which they won!), finding a Koofoo and a rather nasty incident where they almost lost Dog to the ancient creep Dr. Hacksaw. But they had fun, and even found the funny side of Dog's situation after he had been returned safe and sound back to Zapz. And because of these events, Ember felt as if she had gotten to know each member of her new group of friends really well! Right down to the tiny details, such as Angie's favourite colour is baby-pink and Mike's middle name is Jeffrey (Mike Jeffrey Ellis? Whatt? Doesn't match at all! Lmaooo!) Ember had even made up little nicknames for them, such as B-Bop-Baby-Chips-And-Gravy and 2T-Cutey! All she could say right now is that life at Zapz was certainly eventful and fun! _

One morning in early December, Ember bounded into the kitchen area to make her and her three housemates breakfast (she was always really lively in the morning). As they chowed down (B-Bop nearly face-down in his pancakes due to tiredness) their other three companions arrived.

"Umm guys? You're a little early. It's only 9am. You know B-Bop's not fully conscious until around 10" stated Ember, although she was still glad to see her friends.

"Yeah, well I was bored and Ced's always awake early. We thought we'd wake Mike up on the way here" said Angie with a smile.

"Yeah, and it's appreciated!" stated Mike sarcastically, "Its a Saturday! A lie-in morning!"

"Stop complaining. You're here now" Retaliated Angie.

"Hey, have any of you had breakfast yet? I could fix you some. Although we're all out of ingredients for pancakes... and we don't have much else until I go grocery shopping later... you could have cereal I guess" Said Ember.

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Said Mike and Cedric in unison, smiling at her (they hadn't yet had anything to eat as they were both dragged out of their houses against their will at the crack of dawn (in Mike's opinion haha)).

"Thankyou!" Corrected Angie.

"_Thankyou!_" Mike said half seriously/half mocking his friend.

"Umm... what date is it today?" Asked Ember to everyone, hoping to avoid another argument by changing the subject.

"Oh, it's the 3rd of December" Said Cedric.

"Hmm... what do you know. It's my birthday" Muttered Ember to herself, but as you can probably guess, her friends would have heard this too.

"WHAT! TODAY? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING SOONER!" Yelled Angie in disbelief, "WE HAVN'T GOT PRESENTS OR A BIRTHDAY CAKE OR ANYTHING!"

"Oh, that's okay. I don't want you to go through any trouble just because of me" Said Ember, flashing her signature-smile (the really cute and sweet smile she does all the time).

"Ember, how come you haven't said anything?" Asked 2T.

"Well, because my birthday has never really been a big thing to me before. It's not really been a day of celebration, but more of a day of remembrance, as my parents died on my 1st birthday" She explained. Angie's chaotic expression softened.

"Are you okay?" She asked Ember softly, pulling her into a hug.

"Of course I am. I've had a whole 15 years experience of this before, so I'm sure I can handle another one!" Said Ember sweetly. After her hug, she gathered up all the breakfast pots and skipped to the kitchen area.

"Do you think she's bottling up her emotions inside?" Said 2T quietly to the others.

"Yeah I do. And its definitely not a healthy thing to do" Replied B-Bop, voice full of concern.

"Poor Ember. She's been through so much that she doesn't even know how to grieve properly" Said Angie sadly.

"Yeah. She deserves a treat" Do-Wah said.

"Good idea! We'll distract her from her parents and throw her her first ever proper birthday party!" Said Cedric, "Me, Mike and Angie will go out and get some stuff and presents. So cough up dudes! Angie, Mike and I will throw in $25 each. You can cover the rest with no problem." (The martians receive large amounts of money (converted to the correct currency before sending) from Bog for 2T's 'death to humans' inventions. Obviously, 2T not creating any weapons for this purpose hadn't spent a penny. The money had saved up to a very large amount). With heavy pockets, the humans left. When Ember returned from the kitchen, she noticed the absence of three out of the six.

"Where did Angie, Mike and Ced go?" Puzzled Ember.

"Oh, Mike had just remembered that his mom had left him some money to go grocery shopping. He made Ced and Angie go with him" Answered B-Bop (such a good liar!).

"Oh, okay then. But they didn't even get their breakfasts!" She replied, confused.

"Don't worry. Something tells me they will be back soon" Said 2T, smiling at her.

**Author's Summary –**** Do you know what this means? PARTY ON NEXT CHAPPIE! WOOP WOOP! Nommity nom nom. What? I'm munching strawberries! My favourite teehee :D**


	10. Chapter 10: Apple Magic and Gift Havoc!

**Author's Comments –**_** If I could write you a song to make you fall in love, I would already have you up under my arm. **_**What? I'm singing to my dog! Everyone does it! No, it's not weird – for your information, Dylan loves being sung to, so there! Now, you read while I finish my song. **_**But you probably won't, you think you're cooler than me! **_**Arff!Arffff! No Dylan, it's not your part yet! We're gunna keep rehearsing until you get this right god damn it! **

"BANG BANG! _We're beautiful and dirty rich! _BANG BANG!_" _Ember sang while she straightened up Zaps. She was singing Beautiful, Dirty Rich by Lady GaGa, and was getting more and more enthusiastic and loud when it came to the bang bits – the martians still jumped every time she yelled it.

"Imma grab an apple!" She announced to them as if she was announcing winning a trophy. Grabbing a ruby-red one, she skipped into the centre of the room and threw the apple in the air, catching it with a smile. She repeated this for around five minutes.

"Umm... Em? Are you actually planning on eating that apple?" Asked 2T, confused.

"Nope" She replied, glancing in his direction while the apple was in mid-air. Not having her full attention on the apple, she let her hand go more vertical than normal. Then -

SPLAT! The whole room went completely silent. The apple had impaled itself on Ember's index finger.

"I knew it. I. AM. JESUS!" She yelled triumphantly. The martians burst into crazy laughter as the double-doors opened; Angie, Mike and Cedric walked through the door with a very large object covered by a sheet of white material and several plastic bags filled with items.

"What the hell?" Puzzled Mike as he shut the doors, noticing the apple on Ember's finger.

"I don't wanna scare anyone but I think I may have superpowers!" She squeaked excitedly, waggling her apple-finger in the humans' direction. It was her human friends' turn to laugh.

"You really are adorable sweetie" Giggled Angie.

"Haha. Thankyou very much!" Ember replied, trying to pull her finger out of the apple, "what's all the stuff for? And what's with all those bags?"

"Well, we've all been talking and decided that you need something to distract you from all the stuff that's happened in your life. Something like a birthday party!" Said Cedric with a broad smile.

"What? No! You must have spent a fortune on me!" started Ember in shock.

"Ember, it's okay! We all chipped in so nobody's lost serious money! Besides, the stuff's all bought now. You wouldn't make us take it all back, would you?" Said Angie with a sly grin.

"No. That would be very ungrateful of me. But really guys, you didn't have to" She mumbled, blushing deeply; eyes watering with happiness.

"We did it because we wanted to" replied Mike kindly, "the party's tonight! I'll go pick up some pizza, then get some soft drinks, some WKD (everyone likes that!) and some CD's from home. It'll be great!"

"Oh thankyou very much!" she gushed, giving all her friends a hug, "what's under that sheet?" she puzzled while wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.

"Just a little – well, a big gift from all of us! Why don't you take the sheet off and see for yourself?" Said Do-Wah, grinning (the martians knew what the humans were planning on getting Ember with their combined money).

"Okay!" she said, skipping towards the hidden object. Reaching out her delicate hand, gripping the smooth sheet she pulled it off slowly and let out a gasp of disbelief.

"YOU GOT ME A FRICKIN' PIANO!" She yelled, mouth wide-open with shock.

"Yup! You said a couple weeks back how you loved to play the piano. So here you are" Said B-Bop with a very wide grin.

"I love you all so much! And the piano is amazing! I'm so happy, but I don't think I really deserve something so expensive... I think I'll pay you back..." She stuttered and mumbled.

"You _will not _pay us back! It's a gift! And if anyone deserves something as lovely as this, it's you" Said Angie softly. Ember blushed again, tears of happiness threatening to make an appearance again.

"Well, go on then! Play us a song!" Said 2T happily.

**Author's Summary –**** What a great gift! I have a piano and I love it lots and lots :) I know what you're wondering – what the hell was that thing with the apple all about? It wasn't completely random you know... it happened to me earlier this week in the middle of a very crowded street – it happened **_**exactly **_**as described in the story, including the words said! **

**Author's Cousin's Comment Time –**** Now do you believe me when I say she's very strange!**

**Izzie? Where did you come from? I didn't hear you come in!**

**...Well, maybe - just maybe - I'm the one with superpowers...**

**0.0 **


	11. Chapter 11: Ember's Song

**Author's Comments –**** Hiyaa! Youu okay? Good good :3 Now, this chapter is a song sung by Ember with flashbacks to her childhood (the writing in dark-blue are Ember's memories) The song is Little Red – Kate Nash. Kate Nash. Is. A. LEGEND! Teehee 3 **

Angie grabbed a stool from the corner of the room and placed it infront of the piano (which had been moved to one of the walls).

"Come on, Em! Play us a song! And I expect lyrics aswell!" Said Angie, grabbing her shy friend by the hand and guiding her towards the magnificent piano, "sing us something cute!"

"Umm... okay then..." She muttered, sitting delicately on the stool and flexing her fingers, "here goes..."

Playing the opening notes to her song on the piano, her human friends settled themselves on the floor at the martians feet.

"This is gonna be good" Cedric whispered to Mike.

"_Everybody took everything that they could, and they..._

_made a little town, out of stones and out of wood, and they..."_

A little town appeared in Ember's mind. A very old-fashioned town at the coast in the country of Japan. The town was very appealing to look at – miniature water fountains and bird houses were built everywhere and the ground was covered in a vast blanket of green apart from the path that led directly through the town, which was made out of pure-white stone. A highly religious town – no evil or badness of any sort was ever tolerated.

"_made a little king out of plastercine, and they..._

_threw the rules away but they kept the wisdom in."_

Right in the centre of the town was a very large statue of a king sat on a throne. This statue had been there for as long as anyone could remember. Everyone in the town acted so free yet so respectable. They never did anything bad and seemed to live in harmony with everyone else. It was like stepping into a dream – a fairytale.

"_And all of the birds and the bees lived so peacefully..._

_and all of the babies the slept so, so gently, until..."_

Everyone in the town was happy and friendly towards eachother. The children were playing jump-rope and tag. Everything seemed perfect.

"_Little red, little red, little red, little red, little red, little red, little red, little red..._

_Little red, little red, little red, little red, little little red came knocking..."_

A woman with straight, short red hair and sparkling blue eyes flashed up in Ember's head. The woman picked up a little girl – this little girl had short, black wavy hair and hypnotising, brown eyes. The woman was Ember's Auntie Mariah and the little girl was Ember at just two years old. Being hidden from the world, being restricted to staying within the castle walls for her whole life, this was a very strange experience for her – being out in public like an ordinary child. Even though she was very small, she could still remember everything about that day.

"Time to take you somewhere safe, honey" Said Auntie Mariah to the little girl. A few hours later, her luggage brought by servants, Mariah knocked on the door of the little town made out of stones and wood at the coast of Japan. A middle-aged woman with a very neat bob answered the door.

"You be good. I promise we'll see eachother again. This is for your own safety" Mariah said, trying her best not to cry. She handed her over to the Japanese woman and with a final kiss on Ember's forehead, she walked away... she faded into the horizon...

Three years later, the little girl could be found playing by herself on one of the hills near the town. She would always be found wearing brightly-coloured clothes. Her favourite colour among these was red – most of her wardrobe consisted of red. Particularly girly-red dresses. She didn't know why, but she was crazy about the colour red. Perhaps it had something to do with that woman with the red hair who was always so kind to her... The other children didn't like to play with Ember – she always brought trouble with her wherever she went. Whether it was an item being broken or something serious such as a child being involved in an accident, it always seemed to happen near Ember. Some of the adults, being highly religious and everything had come up with the idea that Ember could have part of the Devil within her – this is why everyone in the town referred to her as Little Red, not because of the outfits she wore but because of her extreme bad luck which seemed to rub off on people who stood near her. Ember never minded though – she would normally occupy herself on that hill which she visited every day. She had planted flower seeds on that hill, but for some reason she just couldn't get them to grow, no matter what she did...

"_Little garden how do I make your flowers grow,_

_when I already do everything that I know,_

_I bring you sunshine and I bring you rain, _

_still you refrain,_

_all the other gardens are so full of flowers, _

_they're so beautiful yet I spend all these hours,_

_trying to make you as beautiful as them, _

_but still you refrain._

_Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, scratch..._

_And a knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, scratch..._

_And a knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, scratch..._

_And a knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, scratch..."_

When walking around the town, it wasn't difficult to miss the gardens. They all had beautiful, colourful flowers in them – all of which were healthy and elegant. Flowers were already planted in Ember's new home, so there wasn't enough room for her to plant her own there. Spending most of her time on that hill trying to make those stubborn seeds bloom and blossom, the children of the village began to see her less and less to their relief. Ember was very lonely, though, so she would go knocking on the doors of houses where she knew kids lived, asking them if they wanted to play with her. Most made excuses, some didn't bother to answer the door at all. Everytime she was rejected, Ember would come back that night and scratch a little line near the bottom of the door. Strange, yes but it helped her not to try the same house again – stopping any unnecessary embarrassment for her.

Ember's 'new' mother had always wished that she could have a perfect daughter but with all the trouble Ember brought with her – she wasn't exactly the definition of perfect... in fact, she was the complete opposite. She still hadn't even bonded with her even after three whole years. Neither had her husband. Stressed and confused on what to do, she called her brother for help...

"_Little girl, why are you crying, _

_just because the flowers in your garden are dying,_

_there's so much that you could be doing and,_

_all of your neighbours they haven't got a clue oh,_

_come on with me, we'll have a little fun yeah, _

_it's not too dangerous and we won't hurt anyone yeah, _

_we'll cause some havoc between the birds and the bees yeah,_

_we'll, we'll paint the town red and we'll shake the trees..."_

Her brother was a policeman who lived further up the country. Hearing his sister down the phone, he analysed the situation and thought it was very dangerous allowing Ember to stay in the town with all the suspicions and accusations from the locals. What if they decided to take matters into their own hands? He told his sister that Ember could live with him instead. He travelled over to the town a few days later and once finding that she wasn't at home, he walked up to the hill where Ember could usually be found. At this point, Ember was really fed up and upset with her flowers and was crying. He comforted her and told her that if she went to live with him, her life would be a whole lot better and less lonely than what it was here.

"_oh, come on with me, _

_and I'll show you a good time, _

_all you have to do is jump and climb yeah oh, _

_I'll take you over to the other side of town, _

_where there's so much to do there and nobody wears a crown._

_Should I go or should I stay, _

_my flowers are dying and I'm sick and tired anyway, _

_this boy seems kinda cool, his jeans are kinda low, well I think I'll go._

_Jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, climb..._

_And a jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, climb..._

_And a jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, climb..._

_And a jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, climb..."_

Although she was worried about leaving her flowers, Ember decided to give the police officer a chance – not that they were growing anyway. He looked responsible and smart – a perfect father figure, but at the same time, he looked cool, like he could have fun unlike the dull people that lived in her current town. So she packed her bags and said goodbye to her old family and went to live with her 'new' dad who was called Kyo. Kyo said she didn't have to call him dad which made Ember like him instantly.

Approaching their destination, Ember saw a huge forest. She found out that Kyo's house was in the woods, lots of people's houses were in the woods in this particular town. Therefore, to get to her new home, she had to do alot of jumping and climbing, which, despite her clumsiness, she found kinda fun.

"_Oh, let's pack a picnic and we'll go for a drive, _

_we'll go to a funfair and go on all the rides, _

_we'll climb up a mountain and we'll take in the sights, _

_we'll jump in a plane and fly, _

_if you want you can come back to mine, _

_we'll drink some coffee and you can spend the night, _

_we'll do anything that makes you smile, _

_cause your smile is beautiful and it makes me happy, _

_cause your smile is beautiful and it makes me happy..."_

Ember had a wonderful childhood with Kyo as a 'father.' She had more things to do and had many friends – the bad luck didn't seem to follow her around anymore. Kyo tried to do everything to make Ember happy, but was also a little overprotective of her. She didn't have as much freedom as she did in her old home with curfews to meet now. Ember didn't mind that one little bit.

"_This little girl, she grew up and moved away and she, _

_she lived her life full of risk and full of play and she, _

_she lived her life with so much to say,_

_and her flowers, they grow more beautiful everyday..."_

It was very strange how the flowers which Ember planted seem to bloom far beautifully than anyone else's in the town – even though there was nobody looking after them. Meanwhile, life had improved for Ember aswell. She was living rather than just existing and lived everyday as if it was her last...

The last note played seemed to ring around the room, haunting them all in a beautiful way. Swivelling around, she looked at her friends expectantly.

"Well...? Did you like it..." she said shyly, looking at her ivory-coloured feet. They all stared at her in awe. She smiled at this. Apparently, this meant yes.


	12. Chapter 12: My Inspiration

**Hey guys! This poem is a part of the story. It makes me all teary! Beware, mushy stuff! Enjoy 3**

2T's Poem – My Inspiration

_Beauty. Grace. Perfection._

_Just words used to describe for most. But not me. These words are a person. If you looked up these words in the dictionary, her photo would be underneath them. Her ivory skin gleaming in the moonlight, her dark curls twirling around her waist, her adorable smile. Breathtaking. _

_I knew since the moment I first met her that she would steal my heart. Even all the dirt and blood smeared on her face that night wasn't enough to mask her looks. And the way she affects me! She makes me smile even when I'm unhappy. She makes me hopeful even when there is no bright side. She makes me warm even when we're out in the snow. She makes my stomach feel all fluttery, my cheeks feel warm, my hands shake, my head spin and my words catch in my throat. She must emit some sort of aura as everyone within the same room is affected by her presence. Not that everyone would like to admit it but it's true. Even my rash commander is more careful when she's around and my other fellow Martian is far less clumsy than usual. Her presence even made Bog pause and show a flicker of confusion for a second. I swear I saw a blush. Her smile makes others stop and stare, no matter what the situation. Of course, others don't seem to be affected as deeply as I do._

_She's the very image of an angel when she's asleep. In that white bed, the quilt wrapped around her waist, her red lips slightly parted, her eyes relaxed and her eyelashes kissing her cheekbones. Her dark curls form an impeccable halo around her head. The very image of elegance and purity. And she's just as appealing through the day too. The way she giggles at the slightest thing, each note a flawless and melodic chime, sending shivers down my spine. That cute little blush that spreads across her face when something makes her happy. Those eyes! Big, sparkly, dark and framed with flawless, long, curly eyelashes. Simply Edenic. _

_Her personality is just as captivating as her looks. She's always so eager to help others out, even us when we're on a dangerous mission. When someone's upset, she picks up on it straight away and does everything within her power to cheer them up again. The way she's not afraid to say "I love you!" to her friends. My heart always skips a beat when she says that to me. How she'll give up anything to ensure the safety and happiness of those around her. The amount of times she's gotten herself hurt because she's sacrificed herself to protect a friend. She truly has a heart of gold and a pure soul. _

_This is my poem to her. She deserves some sort of tribute, something which shows just how important she is to the world. Something which will be around even after we're all gone. She is my light in the dark. My warmth in the cold. My inspiration. _

_The beauty of the soul. _

_The grace of the being._

_The perfection of the person._

_She is that._


	13. Chapter 13: The Truth Comes Out

"_There's a she wolf in the closet, open up and set her free. AWOOOOOOOOO!" _Ember sang merrily while she danced around her room, gathering up supplies for her sleepover at Angie's that night. Ember always enjoyed her nights at Angie's house. It allowed them both to do girly stuff without being interrupted for once. She really didn't understand how Angie had lasted so long without a close female friend all those years before she'd arrived on the scene. When Angie had gone on vacation for a week, Ember had gotten so frustrated that she'd pinned Mike down and given him a full manicure! But then again, Angie had always been a little more tom-boyish and controlled than Ember. Grabbing her white cat stuffed toy and placing it gently in her bag, the long-haired female pulled her bag onto her shoulder and skipped out of her bedroom.

"Ember, you ready to go?" Angie asked her friend excitedly.

"You bet!" She replied with a grin.

"Cool! I'm so excited!" Angie replied, standing up.

"Bye bye boys! Try not to miss me too much while I'm gone!" Ember said to her three Martian friends with a cheeky smile.

"Bye! Have a good time!" They replied, 2-T looking a little less enthusiastic than the others. After the girls had left, B-Bop said,

"Hey, lighten up 2-T! Tonight's virtual games night!"

"Is there something wrong?" Do-Wah asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired" He replied.

"Why don't I believe that?" B-Bop whispered to Do-Wah when 2-T walked out of the room.

"What do you mean?" Do-Wah replied, confused.

"I'm just saying that he seems to be this way every time Ember sleeps out" He replied with a smirk.

"Do you think… he like likes her?" Do-Wah answered slowly, eyes widening.

"That's exactly what I think" the commander replied to his friend.

"Maybe we should talk to him. He looks so upset" Do-Wah started.

"I think he needs some time alone. Maybe later" B-Bop replied, "Now help me set this game up!"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Angie, I love your hair! It's so thick and healthy!" Ember gushed, brushing her best friend's hair.

"Aww thank you sweetie but you're the one with the beautiful hair! It's so long and curly! Can I plait your hair next?" Angie replied eagerly.

"But I'll fall to sleep if you play with my hair! I just find it so relaxing" Ember giggled, "We'd have to call it a night!"

"Noooooooo! We've still got so much to do! It's not very often that we get to do this sort of stuff" Angie pouted, turning towards the long-haired girl, grabbing her hands and pulling her down to her level.

"Yes, that's true" She replied, "But we do have fun with the guys too! Even if they are a handful sometimes. Do you like the stuffed toy that 2-T bought me for my birthday?" Ember held up the white cat to Angie's eye level. "Isn't she just the cutest kitty you've ever seen?! 2-T's so sweet."

"Yeah… about that…" Angie started, her tone suddenly becoming serious.

"What is it Angie?" Ember asked, setting the stuffed toy down and tilting her head in confusion at the sudden change of atmosphere.

"Well, while I was waiting for you earlier, I was playing with Dog and he ran into 2-T's bedroom after the toy I threw for him. I followed him to bring him back into the main room when something caught my eye." The short-haired female replied.

"What did you see?" she asked, sitting up straighter in anticipation.

"You know 2-T likes to organise his possessions so everything is neat in his room? Well, there was this sheet of paper sticking out from under his pillow. With a bedroom as tidy as that, how would I be able to miss it? I thought it was a little strange… oh, Ember I shouldn't have read it! I shouldn't have taken something of 2-T's without asking him first! But I did… and I think you should read it…" Angie said, pulling a folded sheet of paper from her back pocket and handing it to her friend. Looking a little worried, Ember unfolded the sheet in her hand.

"Its… it's a poem" Ember said, looking up at Angie, "I don't understand what's wrong…"

"I think it would be best if you read it" She replied with a small smile. Ember diverted her dark eyes to the sheet in her hands and began to read. At first, her expression was blank but after a short while, her eyes widened and her cheeks began to turn crimson. After she'd finished reading the poem, she set the sheet down on the ground slowly.

"So… 2-T has a crush on someone. I think that's cute" Ember said weakly, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Ember, you know exactly who 2-T's talking about in that poem" Angie stated in a soft voice.

"N-no, I don't" She replied, stuttering slightly, her cheeks turning an even deeper red.

"Come on Ember. The girl described in this poem is human and the only female humans who the Martians know are you and I. _Ivory skin_, I have a medium skin tone, you're the pale one… _dark curls twirling around her waist_, my hair is straight and short… umm, what else… _even all the dirt and blood smeared on her face that night wasn't enough to mask her looks, _the Martians first saw you in that condition! He likes you, Ember!" Angie said, the excitement catching up with her. Looking up, she caught sight of her best friend's expression. She looked anxious. She looked lost. She looked crushed. Angie took hold of her hands gently and shuffled as close as she could get to Ember.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked softly, "Please say something." Ember moved her eyes up slowly until they made contact with Angie's bright blue ones. Then there was silence.

"Ember…" Angie started. Ember's eyes began to water painfully.

"Ember…?" She repeated, worried. Ember burst into tears. Painful sobs broke the silence, echoing off the walls.

"Hey! Hey… it's alright… what's wrong sweetie? Please tell me" Angie said in a concerned tone, pulling her friend down into a hug and stroking her hair in a soothing manner. Gulping down air, Ember managed to choke out,

"It's just not fair! Angie, it's not fair, it's not fair!" She screamed, repeating herself over and over in a shrill voice.

"What's not fair sweetheart?" Angie hushed, cuddling her closer.

"I've – I've liked him for so long. For so long! But – But I – but we – but we're just too different!" She managed to yell between breaths. Angie's eyes widened slightly at this and her mouth formed a small, soft smile.

"You like 2-T?" She asked gently.

"Yes" Ember sniffled, trying to control the volume of her voice, "but we're too different! How the hell can _we_ be together?! He's a Martian, Angie! An alien! It would be wrong!"

"It would be wrong?" Angie repeated, "Because you're too different, hmm?" As she said this, she pulled away from Ember gently and held her hands. She lifted Ember's hands so that they were eye-level and then said,

"What do you see here?"

"Umm…" Ember replied between sniffles. Angie shook her hands slightly as a prompt.

"Uh, my hands" She said, looking more confused by the second.

"Right. There's two of them. Do you know what I see? I see two hands, too feet, a head, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, a tummy, two arms and two legs" Angie listed in a calm manner, looking directly into her best friend's eyes. Ember looked even more puzzled than before. Angie turned away for a few seconds and reached into her bedside drawer. She retrieved a small photo of 2-T and Dog on the beach. Angie passed the photo to her friend.

"What do you see?" She asked.

"I see 2-T" Smiled Ember, still sniffling slightly.

"Do you know what I see?" Angie repeated, pointing to the photo, "I see two hands, two feet, a head, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, a tummy, two arms and two legs." At this, Ember tore her eyes away from the photo and looked directly into Angie's eyes.

"Ember, maybe you should stop concentrating on what makes you and 2-T different and start concentrating on what makes you similar. Martian and human DNA are very alike after all, I mean, you've seen other aliens before. Out of all the alien species in the world, Martians are the most similar to us. So, if you're gonna fall for an alien, why not make it a Martian?" Angie started. Ember was at a loss for words by this point.

"And most importantly" Angie continued, grabbing Ember's right hand and placing it on her chest, "What do you feel here?"

"I… I feel my heartbeat" the dark-eyed girl said softly.

"And when you hug 2-T. What do you physically feel?" She asked.

"I feel his heartbeat" Ember said, a sweet smile spreading across her face.

"Exactly" Angie concluded, "You may have many similarities on the outside but on the inside I assure you that you are both exactly the same. And that's what really counts." Ember's eyes began to water again and a light blush spread across her face.

"Oh, Angie! You always know just what to say!" She said happily, flinging her arms around her neck.

"Don't mention it sweetie, after all, what're friends for? And I'll be with you every step of the way whether you choose to act upon these feelings or not" Angie chuckled, hugging her friend back, "Now, I believe we have some popcorn to open and a horror movie to watch!"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Do-Wah! Why would you do that?!" The Martian in yellow shouted at his friend, "You've broken it again!"

"I'm sorry B-Bop. I didn't mean to. I just get a little carried away when playing virtual games" Do-Wah said, looking down at his feet.

"Yeah well just try not to aim at the machine next time!" B-Bop ordered in annoyance from next to the virtual games console while trying to identify where it needed fixing, "Hey, go and get 2-T will ya? I think I need help with this."

"Yes sir!" The corporal replied, walking in the direction of 2-T's room. Knocking on 2-T's door, Do-Wah said,

"Hey, 2-T? Can I come in?"

"Sure" He responded from the other side of the door, still not sounding like his usual self. Do-Wah entered 2-T's bedroom to find the technician slumped on his bed with Dog on his lap and a book in his hand. However, his attention seemed to be focused on the blank wall before him rather than the book in his grasp.

"2-T…" The Martian in red started, sitting on the edge of the bed, "How come you're in here when you could be playing virtual games with me and B-Bop?"

"I'm just not in the mood for games tonight" He replied abruptly, keeping his light-brown eyes glued downwards. After a short pause, Do-Wah said softly,

"It's because of Ember, isn't it? She's not here tonight so you're feeling sad and lonely."

"I – I don't know what you're talking about" 2-T stammered, purposely avoiding looking his friend in the eyes.

"You like her, don't you?" He continued.

"N-no!" 2-T replied, eyes snapping up to meet Do-Wah's and a blush beginning to form.

"2-T, why are you denying it? Ember's an amazing person! Why shouldn't you like her?" He reasoned.

"Well… maybe because I don't stand a chance with her…" 2-T muttered, slowly looking down at the ground again, "She's just so beautiful, so pure-hearted… so perfect. Then there's me. A geeky, overly-emotional technician who belongs to an ugly, violent and selfish race. She's practically an angel… she should be dating a prince or a knight in shining armour. Not someone like me." His voice broke on the last sentence, trying his best to not burst into tears in front of his close friend. There was another short pause, then Do-Wah said,

"2-T, if you ask me, you both seem like a perfect match! You're such a good guy, you've been here for me and B-Bop ever since I can remember! You're always super nice to everyone and you go out of your way to invent things which will make our lives easier. And besides, you're not ugly! How many times has Ember said that we're unbelievably cute? If any alien in the universe has a shot at being with a girl like that, it's you."

"Do you really think so?" 2-T sniffed, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

"I do. And I know exactly how you feel. I really like Angela. I've liked her for a long time" Do-Wah smiled.

"Do-Wah, look what we get ourselves into" 2-T chuckled, wiping his eyes on his sleeve, "I often wonder why things can't be simple for us for a change."

"Yeah. But then again, I like to think that things being this complicated makes our lives more exciting. If everything were simple, we'd soon get bored, "Do-Wah beamed, "Anyway, you'd better go and fix the virtual game before B-Bop breaks it. He's messing with it right now."

"He _knows _he's not the mechanic" the Martian in blue smiled, standing up and setting Dog on the ground, "I guess I better fix the machine before he blows up the place like last time. He can be so stubborn sometimes."


	14. Chapter 14: From Silliness to Sinister

"I'm just saying that 2T Fru-T sounds like something that a candy might be called. You know, like a fruit-flavoured candy. Like, yo, pass the Too-tee Fruities!" Angie continued, walking down the stairs with Ember close behind her.

"Hahahaha! Please, please stop! I have a stitch! It hurts so much!" Ember chortled, clutching at her sides. Taking a deep breath, she said,

"They once told me that A-Luna, 2T Fru-T and Do-Wah Diddy aren't their real names."

"What?! You mean to tell me that I've known them for all these years and yet I don't even know their real names?!" The short-haired girl gasped in surprise.

"I know! said the other day! They said that their real names were far too complicated for anyone on Earth to be able to pronounce so they changed them before they arrived here! You know, it does kinda explain a few things. Like how 2T's first name rhymes with his surname." She continued.

"Or how Do-Wah's last name is Diddy, just like P. Diddy!" Angie giggled.

"Exactly! So are you coming up later?" Ember said to her best friend and she swung her bag onto her shoulder.

"You bet! But before you go, I wrote a poem about something that happened this morning. I feel it even rivals 2T's poem!" Angie said excitedly, pulling a sheet of paper from her pocket.

"Go on then" the long-haired girl said, grinning. Angie looked down at the sheet of paper and narrowed her eyes dramatically.

"_It's always a heart-breaking moment when you make a cup of coffee, forget about it and then discover it twenty minutes later. Cold, alone and desperate, sat on your kitchen counter just waiting, begging you to notice it before it's too late and it is no longer socially acceptable to drink it at its current temperature. Alas, by the time you see it, it is too late. As you pour the cold remains of that sweet, innocent cup of coffee down the drain, a single tear travels down your cheek._ _Nothing you experience in life will ever be as sad as that moment" _Angie finished, pretending to get emotional.

"Angie, Angie, stop! I'm gonna pee! I'm gonna pee!" Ember gasped, trying to control her laughter. Doubled-over, she stumbled over into the coffee table next to her, knocking the stack of placemats off in the process.

"Oh gricks! I'm sorry Angie" Ember uttered between gasps as she bent down to pick them up.

"Ember, did you just say gricks?" Angie asked, bursting into manic laughter.

"Hahahahahahahaha! I constantly hear the guys say it so it's a bit of a habit now!" Ember replied, tears streaming down her face due to laughing so much.

"Isn't it a cuss word?" The short-haired female asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Kinda. Only a mild one though, like the word crap. You ought to see their faces when I say grickies! They look at me as if to say _don't you say that! That's a very naughty word!_ And then I look at them as if to say _I know exactly what it means_" She giggled, massaging her sides in an attempt to get rid of the painful stitch she was experiencing.

"Well I'm glad you had fun sweetie. It's so nice to see that beautiful smile of yours again!" Angie said, pulling her best friend into a hug.

"Thank you Angie. I needed this and I definitely needed that talk we had last night" Ember smiled, hugging her back, "I love how hilariously crazy you get when we have a girly slumber party. When we're with the guys, you're always so mature."

"Well someone has to look after them. They're all crazy! But when it's just you and me, I feel as if I can really kick back and relax" She replied, beaming at the long-haired girl.

"Yeah. Well, I better set off home then. I told the guys that I'd be back by midday. Adios bitchacho!" Ember winked as she walked to the front door.

"Right back at ya!" Angie yelled after her, sticking her tongue out.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Ember always enjoyed her walks back to ZAPZ. As much as she loved the company of her six favourite friends, she also liked to spend a little time alone now and again to be with her thoughts. Journeys back from Angie's house tended to take Ember quite a while because she hadn't mastered riding a hoverboard just yet, meaning that the only mode of transportation when she was on her own was to walk. Her thoughts travelled to the last time she had slept at Angie's.

"_Angie, I'm frightened… oh I don't like this!" Ember had said timidly, staring at the television screen. They had decided to watch The Fourth Kind, a horror film based on gruesome alien abductions. Angie's parents weren't home and all the lights were off, something that the girls had later regretted._

"_M-me neither. It's much scarier than I thought it would be!" Angie had stuttered in agreement, "But at least it's just pretend. Not real at all." Just then, the screen had split in two. On the left side of the screen, some footage of a particularly horrifying hypnotherapy session had appeared._

"_But then again… that looks quite real!" The short-haired girl had gasped, trying to tear her eyes away from the screen._

"_W-wait a minute…" Ember had said, picking up the DVD case. _

"_OH MY GOD! ANGIE! IT SAYS SOME OF THE FOOTAGE USED IS REAL! IT'S BASED ON TRUE EVENTS!" She had screeched, dropping the DVD case and screaming._

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Angie shrieked, diving towards Ember. They both had locked themselves into a tight embrace, still staring at the screen, unable to divert their eyes. The footage got even scarier, showing the man under hypnotism snapping his eyes open and starting to speak in a strange and terrifying voice._

"_Most aliens are nice! Most aliens are nice! Most aliens are nice!" Angie and Ember had chanted in unison, shaking in horror. The movie showed the man beginning to levitate, then his back snapping in two all by itself._

"_AHHHHHHHH! ANGIE, I WANT ! I WANT ! HE'LL MAKE SURE THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!" Ember had cried in a shrill voice._

"_ME TOO! LET'S GO!" She had shrieked back, shooting up and switching the television's power off roughly. They then made a beeline to the front door, locking it firmly behind them. After, they had ran all the way back to ZAPZ despite it being the early hours of the morning. Ember snatched her key-card from her bag and unlocked the front door like never before, then they had shrieked their way into 's bedroom._

"_ ! WAKE UP!" The long-haired girl had cried, shaking the sleeping Martian awake._

"_W-what? What are you guys doing?" He had asked groggily, sitting up._

"_We're scared. We don't wanna go back to Angie's tonight. We watched a scary film about aliens and we want you to protect us!" She explained, still shaking._

"_Can't you go annoy Do-Wah?" had grumbled grumpily, rubbing his eyes._

"_ , you know I go to you when I'm scared, I go to Do-Wah when I'm upset and I go to 2T for everything in between. It's always been like that!" She had reasoned, still panicked._

"_Ah, of course. You two can sleep here, I'll take the floor." He muttered, still half-asleep. _

"_Thank you" They sniffled, Ember giving him a kiss on the cheek as she crawled past him._

"_Y'welcome" had grumbled, grabbing a blanket and curling up on the floor. And that's how that night had ended. Angie and Ember had scared themselves silly and had retreated to the safe confines of ZAPZ, kicking the commander out of his bed in the process. _

Ember smiled at the memory.

"Say what you want about A-Luna but he can be very generous and caring when he wants to be" She thought to herself. This train of thought got her thinking about another memory she had shared with a friend.

"_Right, I'm ready to learn how to hoverboard!" Ember had said valiantly._

"_I'm sure you'll do fine. If , 2T and I can learn how to ride a hoverboard, I'm sure you can too" Do-Wah had said reassuringly, leading her over to a pink hoverboard that Angie had let him borrow. She had announced earlier that day to her three Martian friends that she thought it was time that she learnt another mode of transportation other than walking as she was worried that she had become a nuisance to her human friends. When all seven of them were together and they were going somewhere, Ember would just hop on the back of an OMAB so her inability to hoverboard wasn't much to worry about. However, when it was just her, Cedric, Mike and Angela, her friends had to walk rather than ride their hoverboards so as to not leave her behind. Ember had begun to worry that this was beginning to annoy her friends which had led her to the decision that she would learn how to use a hoverboard. Do-Wah had kindly offered to teach her._

"_Right, put this helmet on and then just stand on the hoverboard with your feet around a shoulder-width apart and your back straight" The Martian in red had instructed._

"_Like this?" Ember had asked, standing on the board as she was told to._

"_That's perfect!" Do-Wah had praised. "Now, gently nudge the button at the end of the board with your right foot. This will turn the power on. Don't move any other part of your body just yet though." _

"_Okay" She said, starting to get nervous. Nudging the dark pink button, the hoverboard hummed to life._

"_Now, gently put pressure on the front of your feet as if you're about to stand on your tip-toes. Put your feet flat again when you're a couple of feet off the ground" He continued. As she did this, the board slowly began to hover off the ground. Ember put her feet flat shortly after as instructed. _

"_Awesome! Now, just lean forward slightly" Do-Wah said. Ember did as she was told._

"_AHHHHHHH! Do-Wah! I feel like I'm going to fall!" She had screamed at her friend._

"_It's normal to feel like that on a hoverboard! Don't worry!" He had soothed. Although she was moving forwards at a snail-pace, she had continued to shriek and wobble._

"_It's okay! It's okay!" He had said over her yells, "I'm right here! I'll catch you if you fall!"_

"_Do-Wah! Help meeeeeeeeee!" She had shouted, throwing her arms around his shoulders, having to bend down in the process._

"_It's alright. See? You're steady now" Do-Wah had said in a soothing manner. For a long time proceeding this, Ember had held onto Do-Wah as he gently pushed the hoverboard around the hoverpark in a circle. He continued to do this at a slow pace until Ember had gained the courage to try to move on her own again. _

"_Look Do-Wah! I'm doing it! I'm riding a hoverboard!" She had yelled in triumph, moving in a straight line very slowly._

"_Way to go Ember! You'll be a pro in no time!" He had shouted supportively._

This memory had Ember laughing out loud. She could be such a drama queen at times! There she was, kicking up a fuss and acting like she was in danger when the whole time she had only been three feet off the ground.

"Do-Wah has to have the patience of a saint for staying with me for that long! He never gave up on me! He's such a sweetheart" She smiled to herself, "I miss him! I miss them all! Mike and Cedric are coming to ZAPZ later too. I hope Mike's not still upset with me!" The memory of what happened the last time she had seen Mike and Cedric played in her mind.

"_Mike? Why do you always wear those goggles?" Ember had asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion._

"_Because I might need them" He had replied._

"_When will you need them? We don't have that many sandstorms here. And when we do have a sandstorm you don't even wear them! They just stay there on your forehead like some sort of headband!" Angie had giggled. Mike had given Angela a stern look for this comment._

"_Can I start calling you Goggles?" Ember had asked excitedly, "Oh what a cute nickname that would be!"_

"_No" Mike had said abruptly._

"_Why not?" She had replied, pouting._

"_Because" He had retorted._

"_Mike, because is not a valid reason" Angie had said maturely._

"_Is your full name Mike or Michael?" Ember had asked him._

"_It's Mike" He had replied._

"_That means you don't have a nickname!" She had gasped in horror, "Oh you poor thing! You must be feeling so left out!"_

"_No Mike suits me fine. And besides, you don't have a nickname" He had reasoned._

"_My name's exotic so I don't need a nickname. Seriously, how many Embers have you met before me? Everyone else has nicknames Mike! We have Ced and Angie, the natural nicknames then we have the cutesy nicknames which are Doggy, Baby Chips-And-Gravy, 2T Cutie and (influenced by the legend himself). You need a nickname too! Can't I call you Mikey?" She had said cutely._

"_No! I don't like Mikey" He snapped._

"_But why?" She whined in protest, "Mikey's really cute! Okay, I'm gonna give you a choice. I will refer to you as either Mikey or Magic Mike from now on. Which would you prefer?"_

"_Hahahahaha! Please choose Magic Mike! It would make my life!" Angie had chortled._

"_Isn't Magic Mike that movie about the strippers?" Cedric had laughed._

"_Yeah! Magic Mike is also a character in the movie! He's the main stripper!" Angie had managed to gasp, clutching at her sides._

"_Okay. I choose Mikey" Mike had pouted, "But only if you are the only one who says it. I don't want everyone referring to me as Mikey after all of those years of correcting them."_

"_Aww. Does that mean no stripping?" Angie had pretended to sulk, "And hey! I'm one of your closest friends! Why can't I call you Mikey too?"_

"_Because" Mike replied, still pouting. _

"_Don't be sad Mike. I love you!" Ember had yelled, jumping on him and giving a big hug._

And that was why Ember could call Mike Mikey and get away with it. She felt so triumphant because of this honour that she felt that she would be telling her children this story one day. Ember grinned, letting her thoughts wander as she continued to walk. As always, her thoughts led to 2T. His socially-awkward grin, his oh-so-confident posture… just thinking about him made Ember's tummy feel all fluttery. A memory of him flashed before her eyes.

"_Wow! How are you guys so good at this game?" Ember had asked. _

"_Well it's really easy once you get used to it" Do-Wah had replied modestly. Her six friends were playing a game of basketball, a sport that Ember had always been useless at. Because of this, she had decided to sit out and keep score with Dog instead. The scores had showed that both Mike's and 's teams were currently drawing with only one shot left for the Martians to make._

"_Prepare to lose babe" 2T had smirked at the humans. And sure enough, he scored._

"_Yeah! The Martians win again!" had yelled triumphantly, high-fiving his teammates._

"_I told you you should have let me take your last shot" Cedric had said to Mike, "We can't keep losing to them! It's an Earth sport and yet they keep winning! They're not even from this planet! It's making us look bad."_

"_Okay! I'll listen to you next time" Mike had replied, slightly annoyed at being told "I told you so" by somebody younger than him._

"_2T! That was amazing!" Ember had gushed, running over to the Martian in blue, "I wish I could play basketball like you!"_

"_Thanks babe. Did you see Ced?" He had replied, smiling at her._

"_Yeah! He didn't miss a single shot! He was awesome!" The long-haired girl had said excitedly, "I'm the complete opposite to him. I don't think I could ever make even a single shot!" _

"_Sure you could! Would you like me to teach you?" 2T had asked kindly._

"_Really? Nobody's ever offered to teach me how to play basketball before!" She had gushed, blushing from happiness._

"_Like Do-Wah said before, it's easy once you get used to it" He had replied, picking up the basketball and leading her in front of the hoop, "All you do is aim and throw. Simple. You hold the ball like this" _

_As he said this, he had given her the basketball and had positioned both of her hands correctly. _

"_Aim" He had instructed. She did as she was told, holding the basketball so that it was lined-up with the hoop._

"_And throw!" He had said. Ember threw the ball. She face-palmed and groaned when the ball landed just five feet in front of her._

"_Haha. You're so cute!" 2T had chuckled, "You're aim is perfect but you're not exerting enough pressure when throwing the ball. Do it like this, see?" As he said this, he placed her hands on the basketball again and positioned his hands over hers. _

"_Aim" He had instructed again, "And shoot!" He then pushed the ball out of her hands and sure enough, it landed through the hoop. _

"_Yay! I did it! I scored a point!" She had yelled, dancing around in a circle, "Thank you so much 2T! I feel awesome!"_

"_That shot was awesome!" He had grinned in response, giving her a hug._

Ember smiled at her feet.

"I think that was the moment when I first started developing feelings for 2T" She thought to herself, "That's when I first realised how sweet and caring he could be." Her thoughts began to wander once again.

"Should I tell him how I feel? Would it be selfish of me to admit my feelings? After all, he doesn't know… none of them know. I know I should tell them the truth but I just don't know how!" She thought, getting anxious.

"My secret… it's vile… it's disgusting… it's repugnant." She thought, her tummy beginning to churn, "…And more importantly, it's downright dangerous." Ember's current line of thought had her suddenly feeling very sick.

"What… what if something happens and they see? How the hell would I explain that? They wouldn't know what to do… how to stop it. It could… it could kill someone! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hurt one of my friends. If 2T saw… it would repulse him. If they saw, would they run away? Would they never speak to me again? What if it happens… and they see… and they all hate me forever? 2T… he'd never want to see me again!" Ember's tummy churned violently and she felt bile begin to rise in her throat. She couldn't live without them… she couldn't live without him. She began to gip at the thought of being abandoned by her best friends. Ember managed to stumble over to a dumpster in a deserted alleyway. She held her long hair back as she vomited into it. After her stomach had settled down, she began to whimper, wiping tears from her eyes. The taste of the acidic, vile liquid burnt the back of her throat.

"Come on Ember, pull yourself together. It's almost midday. I need to get back to ZAPZ or the guys will start to worry…" Her thoughts were interrupted by an intimidating, booming laugh which made the blood freeze in her veins.

"Hey Taylor, long time no see. I hope you didn't forget about me," The voice from behind her chuckled, "Cause I sure didn't forget about you. I've been watchin' you playin' happy families with those friends of yours. Tell me, Taylor, do they know yet? Or are you lying to them?" Her heart began to pound against her ribcage so hard that she could hear her rapid pulse in her ears. She turned around slowly, eyes wide and legs shaking.

"H-Hack! I-I thought you… I thought I…" She stuttered, feeling ill again.

"What? You thought I'd given up on finding and eliminating you? You thought you were safe? Don't make me laugh you stupid little girl!" Hack boomed, moving closer towards her, "Say, Taylor, you look sick… let's look on the bright side. When I'm through with you, you won't have a stomach left to vomit from. Problem solved." With surprising speed for a man as huge as him, he grabbed Ember's wrist and span around on the spot, disappearing into thin air and taking the frightened girl with him.


	15. Chapter 15: Things get Serious

Disappearing and reappearing in another area isn't as easy as it seems. If one is not used to this mode of transportation, it can leave them in a nauseous, paralytic state. Although only temporary, these symptoms are both severe and serious and leave the host in a defenceless and vulnerable position. This is exactly what happened to Ember. Although the feeling of immense compression and suffocation only lasted a split-second, Ember felt so weak when she arrived at the chosen destination that she wanted to collapse. However, all the muscles in her body immediately seized up, making it impossible for her to even bend her knees slightly. She felt a huge white-hot pain at the back of her head, almost like she'd been hit with something heavy. The pain was so bad that it felt like her skull had been split into two. Then everything went black.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Come on… come on… pick up…" 2T muttered to himself, his cell phone glued to the side of his head. The idea of getting each of the Martians a cell phone had been Ember's idea in the first place. She had reasoned that it would make things easier as then the Martians would be able to contact Cedric, Angela, Mike or Ember anytime they wanted. Their regular contact devices could only reach Mike who had been given something similar from the guys when they had first met. Unfortunately, they only had one of these devices spare. Ember had identified this problem straight away, pointing out that Mike, Angie, Ced and herself weren't always going to be together. Since that moment, the Martians had never struggled to contact any of their human friends once, until now. 2T had been trying to reach Ember for 20 minutes. He'd had to listen to her chirpy voicemail so many times.

_Hi there! Sorry I can't answer your call right now. I'm probably too busy partying or shopping for shoes! Leave your message after the beep. Love you!_

"Gah!" He yelled in annoyance, continuing to pace up and down the room.

"Will you chill out a little? She's probably still at Angie's house" said.

"Ember always answers her phone. And she said she'd be back by midday. Midday to Ember means 12pm sharp. She's never late. Something's wrong" 2T said, starting to shake with worry.

"Have you tried contacting Angie?" Do-Wah asked.

"No" 2T replied, dialling Ember's number again.

"I'm on it" huffed, picking up his cell phone.

_Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Click._

"Oh hey ! What's up?" Angie said happily.

"Hey Angie. Is Ember still at your house?" He asked.

After a short pause, Angie replied slowly, "No. She left almost an hour ago. Why?" looked up at the others and shook his head. 2T went pale. Do-Wah let out a little whimper. 's stomach churned.

"Okay. Don't panic but she hasn't come home. And we can't contact her either" He said.

"Don't panic?! What do you mean don't panic?! Ember never wanders off by herself without letting anyone know first!" Angie yelled down the phone, her voice becoming squeaky in fright.

"I-It's okay. I'll contact Mike and Cedric and see if they know where she is" stuttered, trying to stay calm for the sake of his friends.

"I'm coming over" Angie stated, hanging up. 2T gripped his cell phone so hard that it began cutting into his hand.

"W-what if she's hurt?" He said weakly.

"Don't think like that. She's probably fine" said firmly. Do-Wah looked like he was going to be sick. He dialled Mike's number.

_Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring- click._

"Hey dude" Cedric said, "Mike's just gone to the bathroom. He'll be down in a minute."

"Cedric, is Ember with you?" He asked urgently.

"No, why?" He replied. suddenly didn't feel so good.

"Why, ?" He repeated. After a short pause, Cedric said, "We're on our way" and hung up.

"Well?" 2T said quickly, looking at the commander. shook his head slowly in response. 2T dropped his cell phone. He crumpled to the ground, his face in his hands, whimpering and shaking. Do-Wah was staring at the Martian in yellow with wide eyes, pleading with him to tell them what to do, to tell them how to make everything okay again. For the first time ever, didn't have a plan.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Ember awoke due to a powerfully sharp pain at the back of her head. She felt very groggy and struggled to get her eyes to open. When she did finally manage to pry her eyes apart, everything was out of focus and her surroundings seemed to be spinning slightly. She could hear voices but they seemed to be heavily muffled. She couldn't work out what they were saying but she could tell that they belonged to men. Ember lay still, straining her ears to try to hear what the voices were saying. Eventually, her hearing began to improve.

"She'll be waking up very soon. Let's just hope that imbecile doesn't come back early" Said a strangely familiar voice in a menacing tone, "I sent him out earlier for some machine parts. Hopefully, he'll be gone all day."  
"Heh. I can't believe I finally did it. After all these years, I finally managed to get each and every one of them!" Boomed a deep, malicious voice. Ember's heart jolted. She knew that was Hack's voice. She'd completely forgotten being kidnapped. She'd completely forgotten the danger she was in. Until now. As her heart hammered, her sight finally began to come into focus. The first thing she saw was a crème-coloured ceiling. Two long, rectangular lights dangled from it, lighting the room up. She felt like she knew this place, like she'd been here before. Ember let her eyes wander around the rest of the room. Mechanical parts littered the place, some looked dangerous. Ember turned her head slowly to her left so she could see more of the area. What she saw made her stomach flip and cold shivers run up her spine. There was a large, white table, stained with what looked like blood. Lots of sharp, dangerous and vicious-looking tools were spread across it – they looked just like torture tools. Medical tools were present too. Ember couldn't help but notice how many long, pointy surgical knifes were on the table. She'd had enough. Ember tried to move her arms and legs to discover that her wrists and ankles were strapped down tightly. She began to kick and thrash around in panic. Her chest moved up and down rapidly as she began to hyperventilate.

"Ah I see our guest has woken up" A voice chuckled darkly from somewhere to her right. She spun her head around rapidly, and then gasped in horror.

"Y-You?!" Ember yelled in rage, "You're the bastard who took apart Dog and tried to dissect my friends! You're a complete asshole!" Doctor Brady Hacksaw just laughed in response.

"Well, well… such a proper young lady shouldn't be talking like that. I'm sure your mother wouldn't approve. I remember your mother – she was fun to cut up! She was quite the screamer. It made the dissection much more entertaining" He said darkly.

"W-what?" She said, turning pale and widening her eyes in horror, "W-hat d-did you s-say?"

"What? You thought this man to my right did all the work? You thought he murdered your entire family despite not having a proper motive?" Hacksaw replied.

"H-he w-wanted the throne" She stuttered, still in shock from the comment about her mother.

"A lot of people want that throne. What girl hasn't wanted to be a princess at some point in her life? What kind of man hasn't dreamt of ruling a world and having things go his way? That was a rumour that Hack spread around himself. Such a desire alone wouldn't turn a person into a serial killer" He smiled.

"T-then why?" Ember asked, incredibly confused and scared, her dark eyes becoming sparkly with tears.

"Because of me" Hacksaw replied, "You see, I found him when he was a young boy. He'd come down here, visiting Earth with his parents and become separated from them. I knew what he was straight away and I also knew what I could turn him into. So I took him in and raised him. I told him everything about the royal family back in his beloved home world. I taught him everything I'd learnt about them. I taught him exactly what they are. What you are. He grew up to hate you almost as much as I do. When he became old enough, powerful enough, he and I began to cleanse the universe of your kind. I knew letting him keep my surname would make it easy for people to trace the crimes back to me. I'm not a powerful warlock so I'd be in a lot of trouble. So I gave him the name Hack instead. What you are is unnatural. It's sick. Just because you have that thing on your wrist, you think it makes you normal? Don't make me laugh. It just masks who you really are. You don't deserve to live. You might be wondering why my choice of killing is dissection. Two reasons. One, because it allows me to identify everything about you, it allows me to learn even more about your kind and how disgusting you are. Two, because dissection is fun. It's a slow and painful way to die which is just what you deserve." Ember tried to defend herself but she was so overwhelmed by the information she had just learnt and so frightened that all she could do was let out a little squeak, then start to cry. There was always something about Hacksaw which she didn't like. Of course, all of her friends disliked him. But she hated him even more than they did. He disgusted her. Just being in the same room as him made her want to vomit, and now she knew why. Because deep down on a subconscious level, she always knew that something about him wasn't quite right. Hacksaw noticed that the light in Ember's right pocket was flashing again.

"That is really starting to annoy me" He muttered, grabbing the item and seeing that it was her cell phone, still on silent from the night before.

"Someone must really want to contact you" He chuckled, "Too bad they'll never get to talk to you again." As he said this, he threw her phone onto the counter behind him and walked towards the medical tools on Ember's left.

"Let's get started" Hacksaw said darkly, grinning.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Angela, Cedric and Mike arrived at ZAPZ together on their hoverboards.

"Come on" Angie said, tucking her hoverboard underneath her right arm and leading the way through the double doors around the back of the building. The first thing they noticed is that the atmosphere in ZAPZ had changed drastically. Usually, the atmosphere was light and happy, but now, the tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

"Uh, hey guys" said, walking towards them. Do-Wah smiled at them weakly from his spot on the couch. 2T was still on the floor, his knees covering his face from view. Soft sobs were coming from his direction.

"We need help coming up with a plan. We need to come up with a way to find Ember" continued, trying to maintain his calm demeanour. Mike, Angela and Cedric tried to think but it was difficult to do so in such an uncomfortable and nervous atmosphere.

"Angie, did Ember have her cell phone with her when she went to your house?" Cedric asked, turning around to face her.

"Yeah, why?" She asked.

"My uncle's a police officer. He showed me how to track a phone's location!" He said excitedly, running over to a computer.

"Oh really? That's fantastic!" Do-Wah exclaimed, sounding a little more energetic than before. walked over to 2T and crouched down in front of him.

"2T? Come on. We need you man. If we're gonna find Ember, we all need to work as a team. Come on. Ember needs you. She needs you to pull yourself together" said, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders and shaking him slightly.

"Yeah. You're right" 2T said quietly in a croaky voice, wiping his eyes with a sleeve. The two Martians joined the rest of the group who were huddled around the computer Cedric was typing away on.

"If Ember still has her phone with her, we might be able to track their location" He said, loading up a sophisticated-looking website, "Can someone read out her number for me?"

Angie grabbed her cell phone and read out every number of Ember's phone number while Cedric typed it in to the search engine. He clicked the enter button and they all waited in anticipation for the next page to load up.

"Oh crap!" Cedric yelled, "I forgot! We need the password to the website! Only police officers and FBI agents know it!" Everyone groaned in frustration.

"Wait a minute!" shouted as an idea finally clicked on in his mind, "Ember's not from Earth, right? Although her home world is very similar to this one and she's classed as a human, she's still technically an alien! Which means we will be able to track her location on Muldoon's MACD!"

" ! That's brilliant!" Mike yelled, "Well what are we waiting for! Let's get to Muldoon's silo!"

"Hold on Ember, we're coming" Angie thought to herself, eyes narrowing in determination.


	16. Chapter 16: The Rescue Mission

Ember couldn't ever remember being this frightened before. She could feel the harsh stare of Hack burning into the back of her head but at that moment in time, she just didn't care. She was too busy keeping an eye on Hacksaw. He was currently setting up a tape recorder which sat towards the back of the crimson-stained table to her left. Ember didn't really know why he was setting up a tape recorder but she did know that it was the least of her worries. Every time Hacksaw reached towards the table which held all of the dissection tools, her heart would jolt and her stomach would flip unpleasantly. She didn't know how much longer she could put up with this without retching.

"I think we're ready to get started" Hacksaw stated darkly, switching the recorder on.

"Can I make the first cut?" Hack asked enthusiastically.

"No. I'm the scientist, I do the dissection. It's always been that way" He replied firmly, looking over the tools laid out before him.

"But you have no idea how much trouble this brat caused me!" Hack replied angrily.

"I said no" He stated, shooting a stern look at him, and then diverting his eyes back to the table.

"Hmm. I think we'll use this first" Hacksaw chuckled, sliding a nasty-looking surgical knife to the front of the table. Ember went extremely lightheaded, feeling as if she were about to faint.

"This is professor Brady Hacksaw, dissection tape twenty-two, group B. Subject is Ember Taylor, the last subject in group B and the end of the bloodline" Hacksaw said loudly and clearly so that the tape could record everything properly, "Subject is in perfect health, slim, dark-haired, dark eyed, has pale skin and is 17 years of age. It was noted when moving the subject to the dissection table that she has a thin, red scar in the shape of a line next to each shoulder blade just like the others who had transformed at some point in the past. Subject also wears a gold chain around her right wrist which has a cross attached like the others did. Subject is definitely one of them. Hack, you're up."  
"Subject is very fast and has lots of stamina which made her difficult to catch" Hack said professionally, "She has powerful connections which protected her from me, making her the most difficult subject to contain out of the whole of group B. Furthermore, subject is physically weak and does not know how to fight, making her threat level minimum when she's on her own. However, we have no reason to believe that this will make her other form any weaker than the others were."

"Very good" Hacksaw praised the other man, nodding his head at him, "subject was defensive at first but then changed to a nervous, frightened state. She knows exactly what will happen and seems to be very intelligent." He then grabbed some medical latex gloves from the table and pulled them on. Before Ember knew what was happening, Hacksaw lifted her upper lip with one hand and pulled her jaw down sharply with the other, observing her teeth. She crinkled her nose as he prodded her mouth, being reminded of the foul taste of dentist gloves. She tried her best to bite him but the grasp on her bottom jaw was too tight to allow this to happen. In fact, his grasp was so tight that she knew it would leave a nasty bruise behind.

"Subject has perfectly normal-looking teeth but the gum surrounding each canine tooth seems to be a very deep red, suggesting great irritation in the past. This is typical of the subjects of group B who have transformed before." He said, letting her go and walking around the dissection table to observe her left hand, "The ends of her fingertips are a deeper colour than the rest of her skin which again is typical. Overall appearance is very appealing; she has a beautiful, innocent, angelic look. This is normal for her kind, being a defensive mechanism and also serving as a disguise to hide what they really are. External analysis complete." Ember heard movement to her right. Hack jumped away from the door and yelled,

"Someone's here!"

"I'm back" Muldoon said proudly, throwing the door open, "Stoat Muldoon alien hunter can always be counted on to…" Muldoon trailed off into silence when he saw the scene in front of him.

"Well curdle my cornflakes! What in tarnation is going on here!" He yelled in shock.

"I'm dissecting an alien! What's it look like?" Hacksaw replied irritably.

"Help me! Please!" Ember managed to choke out between gasps and tears.

"That's not an alien! It's just a girl!" He shouted angrily in response.

"She may look like a human but she's not. I need to do this Muldoon" He said, turning towards the alien hunter and looking him in the eye.

"I can't allow you to do this without being 100% sure first!" He said, looking disgusted.

"I've had enough of this. Hack, throw Muldoon in one of the cages" Hacksaw ordered, crossing his arms. As Hack overpowered Muldoon and shoved him out of the door, Ember let out a whimper, thinking that it would be very unlikely that she would be saved now.

"Now this is where the fun begins" Hacksaw chuckled, walking over to the table and snatching-up the surgical knife he had moved forward earlier, "Beginning internal analysis." Ember screwed her eyes shut tightly, trying to block her surroundings out and to calm herself down. Then she felt a very sharp pain on her right thigh. She let out a squeak, trying to keep quiet so to not give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had hurt her badly. Suddenly, the pain got even worse, causing Ember to snap her eyes open and let out a scream. She looked down and saw that Hacksaw had cut a single line into her thigh and was tracing the line over and over with the knife in order to get deeper into the skin and muscle. After several cuts, he grabbed a glass microscope slide and put a few drops of blood onto it.

"Subject has ordinary-looking blood from a distance but when examining it close-up, a very slight glow is given off" He said, grabbing a microscope and putting the slide under it. After adjusting the lens, he said,

"Traces of sulphur are in the blood as expected."

"I never thought it would end like this" Ember thought to herself "I had so much left to do, so many people left to talk to, so much to say…" Muldoon had been her last chance. Nobody else knew she was here. As she realised this, the last ounce of hope she had faded away.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Angela, Cedric and Mike couldn't ever remember going so fast on their hoverboards before. Angie felt like she was going to fall off or crash a few times but she just didn't care. The thought of her best friend, perhaps in great peril was enough to stop her from slowing down. Arriving at Muldoon's silo, the six of them placed their OMABs and hoverboards behind a large rock and headed inside. It wasn't long until they heard voices coming from around a corner.

"You can't do this!" The familiar voice of Muldoon yelled angrily.

"I just did. Now, stay" A not-so-familiar voice chuckled darkly. The humans and the Martians tried to make themselves appear as unnoticeable as possible, pressing themselves against the wall when they heard heavy footsteps. They all breathed a sigh of relief when the footsteps faded in the other direction. As soon as they thought it was safe to emerge, they rushed around the corner into the room where Muldoon was.

"Ahhh! Ugly little aliens! Stay back, alien scum!" He shouted in shock from the confines of one of the cages he reserved for alien captures.

"Hey, relax. We're gonna get you out of there" said.

"Aliens? Come to help me? How do I know it's not some sort of evil alien trick?" Muldoon replied suspiciously.

"Ughh" groaned, rolling his eyes and approaching the cage, "Well, you'll just have to trust us." Pressing the red button, the cage door opened and Muldoon tumbled out.

"Uh, thank you" Muldoon mumbled, still cautious.

"Mr Muldoon, we need to use your MATD" Angie said, walking towards the alien hunter with her right hand outstretched.

"Why? This is a highly dangerous piece of machinery missy. It's unsafe in the wrong hands" He said, placing a protective hand on the MATD.

"Look, we have a friend and she's gone missing. We think she's in a lot of trouble but we think that your MATD will be able to pick up on where she is" Cedric explained calmly.

"Jumping jellybeans! I forgot! There's a girl about to be dissected just down the corridor! If you help me to save her then you can use my MATD" Muldoon said. Angie gasped.

"What did the girl look like? Did she have lots of long dark hair and really pale skin? Was she wearing a bright red shirt and denim shorts?" She asked hurriedly.

"Why yes! How did you know?" He answered, confused.

"That's Ember! She's in more trouble than I thought!" Angie yelled in a squeaky, terrified voice.

"Then what are we waiting for!" 2T shrieked at Muldoon, "Show us where she is!"

"Right this way!" Muldoon said. He ran down the corridor, the others following just behind.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"He's not going to be bothering us now" Hack said, chuckling as he entered the room and shut the door firmly behind him.

"Good" Hacksaw laughed, picking up a tool which looked more like a butcher's knife than a surgical one and rolling up Ember's shirt so that her quivering tummy was exposed, "Now for my favourite part. You may feel an overwhelming, paralysing pain as I spill your guts." Chuckling darkly, he pressed the knife into the skin just next to her right hip bone, intending to make a straight, deep cut across the stomach area. As he did this, a blob of ruby blood emerged from the point where the knife pierced her skin, creating a horrible stinging sensation. Ember tried to squirm away but she knew it was no use. At any second, Hacksaw would pull the knife across her stomach, spilling her intestines and stomach in the process. What a painful way to die. That's when it happened. The door flew open from across the room, making everyone inside jump. Hacksaw quickly withdrew the knife and spun around, clearly annoyed at the intrusion.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" 2T roared, enraged and already in BKM mode. Ember's heart leapt as she spun her head round, greeted by the sight of Muldoon and her six friends.

"Guys!" She yelled, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief, "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"It's okay baby. We're here" Angie said, tearing up at the sight of all the cuts, gashes, bruises and blood on her best friend's body. The Martians immediately shot paralysing lasers at the two men, immobilizing them. Angie, Cedric, Mike and Muldoon rushed over to the dissection table, tearing open the straps which held the girl in place and gently helping her to her feet. Ember tried to stand but let out a pained squeak, her right thigh muscle giving up and causing her to almost collapse to the floor. Her friends helped her back up and held onto her so that she could balance. The extra stress on Ember's thigh made the wound Hacksaw had inflicted on the muscle pour blood at an alarming rate. Angie began to sob loudly, clearly shocked, upset, angered and appalled to see her friend in such a state. She felt incredibly helpless as there was nothing she could do to ease the younger girl's pain.

"I-it's okay Angie. See? I'm okay" Ember croaked weakly, using all of her energy to give her a smile. Angie smiled back and grasped her friend's hand tightly.

"2T and I will deal with these two. I want the rest of you to take Ember and get her back to ZAPZ as quickly as possible. Compress the deep wounds with some paper towels until we get back" ordered, "Don't worry about the OMABs, we'll take care of them when we've finished here." With that, Do-Wah stepped over towards Ember and scooped her up. He led the way back down the corridor, the others running to keep up. Ember could feel herself slipping away into unconsciousness before they even reached the exit. The familiar feeling of everything deteriorating… the cold, hard touch of Do-Wah's BKM suit fading away until she couldn't feel it at all anymore, the hearing in both of her ears becoming muffled as if she was in a pressurised, glass bubble, the unpleasant, tingling feeling of coldness creeping up her arms and legs, then her vision fading away into darkness. If it wasn't for the fact that Do-Wah could feel her heartbeat through her ribcage, he would have thought that she was dead.


	17. Chapter 17: Answers

Ember fully regained consciousness the next morning, feeling sore and achy all over. She didn't remember anything about what happened the preceding night after they left Muldoon's silo due to the weakened state she had been in – she was pretty much unconscious for the entire night. She could feel the warm, pleasant rays of the sun shining onto her body, making her feel comfortably warm and changing the inside of her eyelids to a glorious orange colour. Ember's eyes gently fluttered open. She could see out of the window from her current position. It was a beautiful day – there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The sounds of hungry seagulls calling to each other quietly echoed around the room. She smiled gently at the view. Something cold was softly pressed into her ribcage. Ember lowered her dark eyes to see it was Dog, curled up and sound asleep with his chin rested on her body.

"He's such a cutie" She smiled to herself, gently scratching behind his ears. He didn't stir. Soft breathing could be heard to her right. Ember turned her head slowly and saw Angie, asleep. She seemed just as tired as Dog. She suddenly realised with a jolt that they all must have been awake until very late last night, tending to her wounds.

"I have such amazing friends" She thought, eyes watering, "Angie will probably want to know that I'm awake."

"Angie. Angieeee" She said quietly, propping herself up and shaking her softly. Dog awoke at the movement and excitedly started to bark, jumping up and licking her face, his tail wagging rapidly. Ember giggled as she cooed and patted him. Angie woke up due to all the noise, rubbing her eyes.

"Ember! You're awake!" She yelled happily, leaping at her and pulling her in for a big hug, "Oh thank goodness! I've missed you so much!"

"I'm fine Angie" She giggled in response, breaking the hug, "Take it easy, okay? I'm still a little sore. And may I ask why you're in my bed?"

Laughing, Angie replied, "Well, we realised that you might still be a little scared when you first wake up so we all decided to take it in turns to stay with you throughout the night."

"Umm, since when has by bed been open to the public?" She laughed, eyebrows raised.

"No, no, no. Don't worry. Everyone else sat in that chair there" She chuckled, pointing over her shoulder, "I just got too tired to keep my eyes open! I knew you wouldn't mind." Then they just stared at each other, grinning like maniacs. If anyone else had been in the room, they would have thought that they were communicating telepathically. Well, that's just how best friends behave with each other. After a few seconds, Angie's grin faded and her eyes lowered to the ground.

"Ember, I'm so sorry. I should have walked you home yesterday. I should have stayed with you… this is all my fault" She said softly.

"Don't be silly Angie" Ember said, grabbing her hands and looking her directly in the eye, "None of this is your fault. Hack would have come back for me eventually and if you had been there, you wouldn't have been able to stop him. You probably would have gotten hurt so actually it's a good thing that you didn't walk me home."

"Yeah… I guess you're right" She replied, giving her a small smile.

"Of course I'm right! When am I wrong?" The long-haired girl replied with a grin. Angie giggled the gasped when she remembered something.

"Muldoon dropped these off last night" She said, grabbing something from just under the bed.

"My bag! I completely forgot!" Ember said with an appreciative giggle, rummaging through it.

"My stuffed toy!" She said happily, hugging it close, "And my cell! Oh, the screen's cracked. That sucks."

"I'm sure you'll be able to replace it" She smiled, "Now come on! Everyone will want to know that you're awake."

"And I'm starving!" Ember said, scooping up Dog and following Angie out of her bedroom, "So… did the guys give Muldoon the old mind-wipe again?"

"Yep" Angie replied, leading her down the corridor, "They weren't going to but when he dropped your stuff off last night, he insisted that the Martians make an appearance on his show. They had no choice."

"Do you think that Muldoon having his mind wiped all the time will have any long-term effects?" Ember asked.

"Well, he can't get any crazier, can he?" Angie replied, smiling.

"That's true" She giggled, "But at least his heart is in the right place. Is anyone even awake yet?"

"Good point" Angie said, stopping abruptly and causing Ember to walk straight into her, "I'll go wake them all – while you grab some breakfast" She added as the long-haired girl's stomach rumbled.

"Come on Doggy! Let's go get some brekkies! N'aww! Who's a good boy?" She cooed to Dog, tickling him under the chin as she walked towards the main room. Dog answered by giving her an appreciative lick on the nose. Giggling, she set him down and said,

"Go fetch one of your toys then my clever little boy!" Barking like crazy and tail wagging so fast that it was beginning to cause a draft, Dog bounded around the corner at full speed. Ember laughed and ran after him, trying to keep up. It felt good to stretch her legs after all that time spent being strapped down or asleep.

"Well you certainly are energetic this morning" 2T said to Dog, grinning down at him.

"2T! Looky, looky! I'm all better!" She yelled excitedly, running straight at him and leaping into a big hug.

"Ember! It's so good to see you awake!" He laughed in response, pulling her even closer. This hurt Ember a little as she was still sore but she just didn't care. She dug her fingernails into his suit, not wanting to let go. After a few seconds of silence, she mumbled,

"2T? Why are you awake so early all by yourself?"

"I couldn't sleep" He answered.

"I thought I'd never see you again" She said weakly, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek. 2T could feel himself blush. Dark eyes connected with light brown ones. Time seemed to stand still. 2T's heart was beating so hard that it felt like it could burst out of his chest as Ember slowly brought her face closer to his.

"EMBER!"

Ember jumped violently, spinning around.

"Guys! You almost gave me a heart attack!" She giggled as , Do-Wah, Mike and Cedric ran towards her.

"EMBER YOU'RE AWAKE!" Mike shouted ecstatically, reaching her first and grabbing her around the waist. The others weren't far behind. They hugged her so enthusiastically that they knocked her to the ground.

"Ah guys! Take it easy!" She laughed, trying to squirm free, "NAHH! Ced, don't touch my tummy! IT HURTS! ! You're crushing my ribs! Ahah, so this is how I die!" 2T felt a crushing sense of disappointment. He thought that Ember was about to kiss him.

"_Maybe I'm just imagining things" _He thought to himself, sighing. Although he felt a little upset, he couldn't help but be affected by the crazy-gleeful atmosphere in the room. He did feel happy that everyone was together again, happy and healthy.

"Guys, come on. You'll end up suffocating her!" Angie laughed, dragging the girl out from under the pile-up.

"Are you feeling better now?" Cedric asked, removing himself from the heap and dropping down to the floor next to where Ember and Angie had settled.

"Yep. I feel great! Well, maybe just a little sore, but I'm okay!" She beamed at him, "You know, I really thought I was a goner last night. How did you guys find me?" lunged into a detailed explanation of how last night's events played out for them, constantly hinting that he was the brains behind the ideas like he often did.

"Wow. I guess it was lucky that you ran into Muldoon when you did. If you had arrived even a second later, it would have been too late" Ember said, turning slightly pale at the thought.

"Ember, I really don't want to ask you this so soon but we do need to know" 2T started delicately, joining the circle his six friends had already formed on the floor, "Why did Hacksaw want to kill you? What happened?" The girl's dark eyes fell to the floor as her lips formed a bittersweet smile.

"I always knew I'd have to tell you eventually" She sighed, twirling a thick strand of hair around her finger, "But please, could you all promise me just one thing?"

"Anything" Angie said, turning her head to meet her eyes.

"Please don't hate me. I beg you" She whispered, her voice cracking into a whimper.

"Ember, we could never hate you" Do-Wah comforted from his spot to her right, gently holding her hand in encouragement.

"That's sweet Do-Wah but you might not be saying that in a minute" She squeaked, still looking at the floor.

"It's okay. Just start from the beginning" Angie soothed, placing a hand under Ember's chin and gently raising her face up and away from the floor.

"Okay… I don't really know how to start…" She said slowly.

"Like I said, start from the beginning" Angie repeated, giving her a gentle yet concerned smile.

"Right. It's a long story, so get comfortable" Ember announced, trying to lighten the mood, "Legend says, a long, long time ago, before the time of technology and buildings, before my people were even aware of their magical abilities, in my home world, the population of people was small and uneven. Many small tribes were grouped across the land, and two big tribes lived in the middle of all of these tribes. Lots of conflict happened between the larger ones, as both the leaders of these tribes wished to be ruler of the land. Lots of death and pain ensued due to this violent activity, making life miserable and difficult for everyone. There was a myth which had been passed down since the beginning of man which said _whoever finds the Tree of Ages and cuts it down will find the Emerald. Whoever possesses the Emerald will have immediate authority over all of the birds of the sky and all of the mammals of the land and all of the fishes of the sea. No plant will grow without his will. No crow shall caw without his blessing. No man shall dispute his power. However, this gift will come at a terrible price, for cutting down something so precious for selfish gain shall be punished. _Nobody really believed this myth, until the chief of one of the larger tribes became so desperate that he was willing to try anything. His people were weak with injury and soon, he knew he would lose to the other chief. He felt that he would rather die than bow down to somebody who was clearly inferior to himself. So, the chief set off on his journey to retrieve the fabled Emerald. He eventually came across the Dark Chasm, the place where the Tree of Ages was supposed to dwell. To his surprise and pleasure, he found the Tree, huge, beautiful and grand. It glittered green and golden in the darkness. A normal person would have refrained from chopping down such a pure and rare sight, however the chief's greed and desire to be ruler of the land was too strong. He seized the axe from his belt and cut the Tree down without even the slightest pang of remorse. There, shining wonderfully within the Tree's depths was the beautiful, brilliant Emerald foretold. He grabbed it immediately. As soon as the Emerald touched his fingers, a magnificent, golden crown formed around it, the Emerald becoming the impressive jewel in the centre. The chief let out a hearty laugh, knowing all of his dreams would now come to be. As soon as he placed the crown on his head, he felt power coursing through his veins. However, something else happened. The Emerald changed to a deep red and temporarily paralysed the new ruler of the lands. A voice boomed _"you are now ruler of the lands. However, for cutting down something so priceless, for committing such a greedy and self-centred act cannot go unpunished. From this day forth, everyone in your bloodline shall suffer. Power is what you wanted so power you shall receive. A curse is laid upon you. Only the pure and natural shall protect you. Do not remove it, for this element has lingered in the soils since the formation of the land and so shall save you from your act of evil." _As this was said, a golden bracelet formed around his wrist and attached to it, a cross. Both the chain and the cross were made of pure gold. Then, the paralysis lifted and the man ran back to his tribe, frightened yet pleased of his achievement. Right away, the greenery started rapidly growing – the crops all around him grew strong, the fish thrived and the sun shone happily. When he reached his tribe, the people saw his crown and sensed his authority, immediately bowing before him. The fighting ceased and before long, everyone became prosperous. Life became peaceful. One day however, the chief became curious about the curse which was laid upon him. He grasped the golden chain but found he could not remove it himself. He asked a servant to do so. And something truly terrible happened, which only stopped when someone managed to force the chain back onto his wrist. Twelve people were killed and many more were injured within the five minutes in which the chain had been removed. The chief found that he had lost all control and could not remember most of what happened. This terrified him and said to his wife, "_on the birth of any child in our bloodline, a golden bracelet made of pure gold shall be crafted and placed upon the child before the umbilical cord is broken, for all of my bloodline shall be plagued with this curse." _ And so it's been ever since – every baby born in the royal family has a chain placed upon their wrist at birth. The chain is adjustable, so never needs to be taken off to fix. The child is taught to never let anyone touch the chain, and to never under any circumstances allow it to be removed." As Ember said this, she began fiddling with the cross on her chain, stroking it gently. Everyone in the room remained silent for a while.

"So that's why you're always protective over that bracelet?" Mike asked, staring at the chain.

"Yep" Ember replied.

"So you can never take it off?" Cedric asked curiously.

"Nope. I have to bathe with it on, sleep with it on, everything for the rest of my life" She said, smiling at it.

"Was the reason that Hacksaw hated you so much because of what happens to you when you take it off?" 2T concluded.

"Yeah. It seems he's done his research. He believes us to be truly evil, but it's not my fault that I have this curse and it's certainly not our fault about what happens when the chain is taken off" Ember said bitterly, "Yet he took matters into his own hands. I actually believe that this reason for him killing my family was just a cover-up. I think that he just wants to kill as many as he can from my planet. After all, we are the closest alien species to Earth. All you have to do is go through a miniature black hole and our world is right on the other side. Of course this means that many people in my home world sometimes travel here to take a look around. Hacksaw didn't like this idea so began slaughtering my family with Hack's help."

"Umm, Ember?" Angie said nervously, "What happens when the chain is removed?"

"It's hard to explain…" Ember started, sighing and looking up at her friends, "Well, you know the saying _everybody's got a dark side?_ Well, it's kinda like that but kinda different. They say that the soul is split into two – one side being the good and the other being the bad. It depends on what kind of person the being wants to be which determines whether they use the good side or the bad. However, there is always a possibility that the other side could come out. Well, the curse made it so that we don't have a bad side. Instead, it was replaced by something terrifying. Something which isn't even human. This side of me isn't even a part of me. I have no control over it. It's a completely different being. It's a… it's a…"

"What is it?" asked, intrigued and a little afraid.

"It's a demon" She whispered. The whole room fell silent once again. Ember could feel that every eye was rested on the golden chain around her wrist.


	18. Chapter 18: The Story

Breaking the silence that lingered among the circle of friends, Ember cleared her throat and said, "Excuse me, I'm really going to have to fix myself something to eat. I'm starving!" She could feel everyone's stares following her across the room. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. She tried to ignore it anyway, fixing herself some cereal like she would any other morning. Angie began to pick at her nails the way she always did when something was bothering her. The reason why she had begun to wear gloves in the first place was to discourage her from picking her nails short but it seemed that this method had failed a long time ago, leaving her with stubs for nails. Angie's blue eyes fuzzed out of focus as she concentrated on her thoughts.

"_There all done!" Angie had said proudly, standing up straight and placing her hands on her hips, resulting in soap suds dampening her shirt._

"_Wow! You weren't kidding! Those are the biggest, prettiest bubbles I've ever seen!" Ember had giggled, peering in the bathtub which was filled with sparkly, lilac, sweet-smelling suds, "Thank you! I really need this."_

"_You're welcome" Angie had grinned, "You really need to relax after having to live with three messy boys all the time! Get in and don't get back out again until you're feeling completely relaxed!" _

"_Yes sir!" She laughed back, saluting her._

"_Do you want me to put your necklace in your bag? You wouldn't want to get it wet!" Angie had asked._

"_Yes please" Ember had replied, removing the item of jewellery, "I'm glad you remembered. I'd completely forgotten that I was wearing it!"_

"_Oh, and your bracelet" Angie continued, holding her hand out towards the long-haired girl._

"_Umm, I think I'll keep this one in here with me" She had muttered, suddenly turning serious._

"_But you might ruin it" Angie replied, scowling slightly in confusion._

"_Nope, I-its… waterproof! Yep, completely waterproof! Pretty cool, huh?" Ember giggled, hiding her left arm behind her back._

"_Yeah, okay then" She had shrugged, walking out of the bathroom and closing the door behind her._

"_Boy that was strange. Why did Ember get all serious like that?" She puzzled to herself, "Maybe I'm just imagining things…" And with that, she had dismissed the whole thing._

Of course, that incident made a lot more sense now than it had back then.

"…_And then, we knead the dough!" Ember had giggled, stretching her palms towards the mixture._

"_Wait! You'll get your pretty bracelet all dirty!" Angie warned, moving her hands towards the clasp on Ember's wrist._

"_D-don't worry about that!" She replied hurriedly, rapidly moving her arm out of Angie's reach, "A little dough won't hurt it!"_

"_You're so strange!" Angie laughed, ruffling her best friend's hair, succeeding in streaking the dark locks with white flour in the process. She giggled back, sticking her tongue out at the older girl. That was one of the good things about Ember – she looked like a girly-girl yet she didn't mind getting her clothes, make-up or hair dirty._

"I guess that makes more sense now too…" Angie thought to herself, staring into space. She didn't snap back into reality until Ember dropped back down to the floor next to her, clutching a bowl of food and a shiny spoon. It was evident that the girl was feeling stressed as a deep blush had formed across her face and her hands were shaking slightly.

"Ember? Forgive me for prying but I'm curious… Why is the demon so dangerous? What can it do?" Angie asked quizzically with a hint of terror.

"Well…" She explained between mouthfuls, "It has power. Immense power. If the fingers are pointed straight, electricity can be controlled and used as a weapon, like a taser but much stronger. If the wrists are held together, then fire can be controlled and fireballs can be created. And the demon can fly too and is amazingly fast on foot. The most horrifying thing would have to be that it has fangs… they tend to get rather bitey when attacking. It's definitely much more dangerous than any alien we've had to fight before… something as evil as that makes the Karsh Twins and Humanga look like cute little kitties." Angie had to repress a violent shiver from making itself evident; she didn't want to offend Ember as she knew she was finding this conversation difficult enough already.

"Ember… does it hurt to transform?" Cedric asked, edging a little closer but eying the gold bracelet warily as he did so.

"Well it's certainly no BKM" She said with a small smile, "It's not an external transformation, it's all internal… there are things inside the body, pushing their way out to the surface during transformation. First, the skin changes – every hair stands on end and the skin of the person is icy to the touch. Then, the fingernails, they become sharper and pointed, growing slightly in the process which is only a little painful. After, the hair changes to a deep red colour and the eyes become vivid pink with the pupils changing to slits (I think this is used to make the vision more accurate), but of course, these procedures don't cause any pain. However, things get nasty after that… the current canine teeth are covered with another set of teeth… these teeth are in the same position as the canines, except slightly higher up in the gum, just like vampire fangs. The ends of these freakishly long teeth are extremely sharp and it's normal for the person to cut their tongue multiple times on them. This part of the transformation makes the gums feel like they're on fire and quite a bit of blood is produced. Then, the most painful part of all… the wings. Their ragged, spiny edges push against the skin of the shoulder blades until the skin is broken and the wings are torn out, spraying blood everywhere. These wings are big… around three quarters of the length of the host actually… its lucky they fold inwards when coming out of the body otherwise the scars left would be much bigger… and the wings come out red despite being black because of all the blood. It's the worst pain ever… for a few minutes, it feels like someone is holding a chainsaw to the inside of your skin and is cutting over the same sore spot over and over again… then the skin rips and for a second you feel relieved… but then you're greeted with a white-hot, temporarily paralysing pain which spreads throughout the entire body and all you can do is scream and scream and scream some more until the pain subsides… the worst part is that the person is conscious of all of this… only after the pain has subsided, the demon takes over fully."

"…wow…" Cedric breathed, trying to absorb what he'd just heard.

"…The cross supresses the demon… does that mean God is real? Is the demon from hell?" Mike asked with a pang of worry in his voice. His parents were Christian, but he'd never really seen the logic behind religion before.

"No. This has nothing to do with religion. It's the gold element which supresses the evil inside, not the cross. The cross is just a symbol of peace, meaning that the bracelet is used to restore and maintain peace and normality. The fact that the cross is a Christian symbol and that demons are rumoured to originate from hell are just coincidences. I know as much about the origin of Earth as you do" Ember replied.

"Ember… I've noticed scars on your back in the past… have you transformed before?" 2T asked slowly, eyes widening.

"…hmmm, you never miss a trick, do you 2T?" She smiled weakly, looking at her feet. She always tried her best to keep those scars hidden, her hair usually covered them up nicely as did certain clothing but of course sometimes these things would move across her back such as when it was windy outside.

"It's a disgusting story… I didn't mean for any of it to happen…" She stuttered, going pale, "When I was little, living in that village I told you about, there was an accident… and people died…" Taking a deep breath, she started reciting the memory to the group.

_It was a cold and frosty morning. The sheet of snow crunched beneath Ember's feet, her small form being buffeted by the strong wind. Yet, she was still smiling._

"_Mummy, daddy, today I'm going to make a snowman! Then, I'll make a snow angel and sing for you both! It will be so much fun!" She said, looking up at the grey sky. She often did this as a child – she'd pretend her parents were living in the clouds and could hear her speak. This comforting illusion broke when Ember got older, but as a child, this activity kept her very happy and made her feel that she was never alone. After she'd finished her snowman (which she'd named Stephen) and her snow angel (named Wendy), she sat on the snow and pulled out a photo from her pocket. The photo showed a baby with thick, dark hair and big, beautiful eyes. Around her tiny wrist was a golden chain with a cross attached. The baby had a well-made, light pink dress on. She was being held by a woman. The woman was absolutely stunning – blonde ringlets ran down to her waist, her eyes the brightest blue and her painted, full lips held a warm smile, creating dimples in her smooth cheeks. She had a bracelet around her wrist, identical to the child's. The woman resembled the modern day Ember perfectly, but of course with slight differences. To their right stood a well-built, handsome man with dark brown eyes and tousled, thick hair. His tan skin gleamed in the sunlight. He did not possess a copy of the bracelet the other two were wearing. Both adults were wearing grand attire and held the impression of wealth and kindness. They both wore sparkling crowns and jewels around their necks. Ember looked down at this photo and sung a beautiful, bittersweet song._

"_I was so happy when you smiled, your smile breaks through the clouds of grey, far from the sunny days that lie in sleep, waiting with patience for the spring when the flowers will bloom renewed again …" Her sweet voice travelled through the hills, alerting some of the older girls of her presence. _

"_Is that little freak singing to herself again?" One of the girls with frizzy, dark hair chuckled maliciously._

"_Heh. Let's check it out" The tallest said, strutting ahead of the group. Reaching the top of the hill and stopping next to the girl, one of them said,_

"_What have you got there?" Ember abruptly halted her singing and looked up warily._

"_I-it's just a photo of m-my family…" She stuttered up at them._

"_Oh, is the little baby going to cry just because she doesn't have her mommy and daddy? Oh boo hoo! Get over it!" The girl with red-hair hissed mockingly._

"_Let me have a look at that…" The girl with freckles giggled, snatching the photo from her grasp. Her identical twin and her giggled at the photo. _

"_Why are you wearing such strange clothes here? You really are a freak!" They chortled in unison, receiving grins from the other three. _

"_Give it back!" Ember yelled squeakily, snatching the photo back and shoving it in her pocket. As she did this, her golden bracelet clinked against its cross, drawing the attention of the tallest girl._

"_You know, I've always admired that bracelet. It's beautiful" She smiled at the little girl._

"_Umm, thanks" She replied, feeling uneasy._

_Bending down to Ember's level, she said slowly, "Little Red, did you know that it's my birthday next week? And I would sure love a bracelet like that as a present! Why don't you give it to me?" _

"_No! Absolutely not!" She screeched, backing away from the girls. _

"_Why you little brat!" She yelled, turning to the freckled twins "Get it for me!" They both pounced on poor little Ember. One twin held the shrieking and wriggling girl down while the other undid the clasp on the bracelet. _

"_AHHHH!" The one holding her down yelled, "She's ice-cold! My hands feel numb!" Ember's horror-stricken eyes glazed over and her small form began to writhe. From the bottom of the hill, continued agonised screams and cries pierced the air. A strict-looking woman (the one who looked after Ember) recognised Ember's voice immediately and ran for the hill, her face contorted with dread. The five girls were rooted to the spot in fear. Before them stood Ember... but it wasn't Ember. Her skin was paler than usual, her hair was red, her nails unusually pointy. Leathery wings were clasped behind her back and the atmosphere around them felt strange. Her face was hidden by her hair as she was looking down at the snow, sniffling still from the pain. _

"…_Little Red? …E-Ember?..." The tall one stuttered, eyes wide. She slowly began to shuffle forward towards the strange form, reaching a hand out towards her._

"_Ember? I-is that you?" She said quietly. Instantly, her face shot up from the ground and vivid pink eyes connected with her soft brown ones, chilling her to the core._

"_Nope" 'Ember' said in a contorted, harsh voice, little fangs pointing out from her bleeding lips as she grinned a malicious and insane smile. _

_The woman was half way up the hill when she heard the screams. She ran even faster to the source of the noise._

"_Ember, please… no…" She thought to herself, her heart pounding in her ears. Her stomach churned when she heard a scream turn into a gurgle, then die out. As she reached the top, the woman's insides squirmed at the sight. The entire top of the hill was no longer white – it was covered in a blanket of deep red. Five bodies were sprawled in the snow, unmoving. The woman began to gag at the scene. A demented giggle could be heard across the hill. _

"_That will be the last time you touch any of Ember's things… hehehehe… stupid little sluts…" 'Ember' giggled, crouched over the tallest girl. This was followed by a squelching sound… the woman tried her best not to vomit when she realised that the girl was eating one of the corpses, tearing chunks of meat from her throat and swallowing it down greedily. Something sparkled in the snow a few feet to her right. The woman silently scooped up the bracelet and approached the preoccupied 'Ember.' Quickly, she clasped the bracelet on her wrist. The girl began to shake as her wings and other appendages evaporated. _

"_HNNN!" She shrieked, eyes widening as she spit out the chunk of flesh in her mouth. Startled at the sight, smell and lingering taste in her mouth, Ember began to sob hysterically, vomiting into the snow and trembling from head to foot. _

"_It's okay sweetie… it's okay…" The woman soothed, stroking her hair._

"_What happened? M-my clothes are all sticky…" She gasped between sobs._

"_It's okay… listen, when we get home, we're going to have to make a call. You're going to have to stay with your uncle Kyo for a while. Won't that be fun?" She said with mock enthusiasm, hurrying the girl down the hill. _

"_Once the others see this, they'll look for her. If they find her, they'll kill her…" The woman thought to herself, "She can never return here again." _

Throughout her story, Ember stared at the ground as if in a trance, not wanting to make eye-contact with anyone in the room.

"Umm… yeah, that's why I have these scars…" She said.

The room was silent; so silent that it started to ring in Ember's ears, causing her a little pain and frustration.

"…Ember, like you said… that wasn't you… you aren't responsible for what happened" 2T stuttered, breaking the silence.

"I am responsible! I should have run! I should have gotten away from those girls but I didn't! And as a result, those girls got hurt… It's my fault. I killed five children. Five innocent children. I'M A MURDERER! I'M A MONSTER!" She screamed, still looking at the floor, tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to spill over at any moment.

_I… I think I should leave for a little while so they can absorb… so they can c-come to terms with… _she thought, standing up.

"I'm gonna head out for a while. I've been meaning to get some groceries in for a few days now and I could do with some fresh air" She said numbly, still looking at the floor.

"I'll come with you" Angie said, hiding her shock and understanding instantly why her friend was so eager to go outside, "come on sweetie, we could go out for lunch after! See you guys later!" And with that, she grabbed Ember's hand and pulled her out of the door.

Mike was scowling at the floor, thinking about what he'd just heard.

"Wow… that was scary, but I'm not gonna treat her any differently" Cedric said, his voice shaking slightly but sounding confident at the same time. Mike glanced up. Cedric's usually rich brown skin was a little paler than usual, but he had a determined look on his face.

"We can't make her feel crappy about this guys. It took a lot of guts for her to open up to us like that" He continued.

"I agree. Nothing changes" B-Bop said firmly to the group even though his stomach was in knots.


End file.
